Sombat Boonngamanong, a cultural activist and NGO organiser, was not a central leader of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (popularly known as the Red Shirts) when their mass protest camp at the Ratchaprasong intersection in the heart of Bangkok was bloodily dispersed by the Thai military on May 19.
Thousands were injured and 91 killed in the crackdown. Hundreds remain political prisoners.
But Sombat has since emerged as a popular figure in the dramatic Red Shirts' resurgence over the last month.