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Saturday April 8, 1:50 PM Rural Thais await return of "Thaksin the hero" NAKHON PATHOM, Thailand (Reuters) - Thai rice farmer Wichien Tata says he has little time to think about politics. But when other farmers asked him to join them on a trip to Bangkok to show support for beleaguered prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, he went without a second thought. "He's done so much for us, I wanted to give something back," said Wichien, 52, now back at his home on the outskirts of rural Nakhon Pathom town after about a week on the road. When Thaksin stepped aside earlier this week after an inconclusive snap election, Wichien felt nothing but bewilderment. "I don't know about other people, but I feel like it's a real shame. I don't understand why he had to go. No one else has ever helped us," he said, sipping icy green soda from a plastic bag -- his lunch for the day. "People in Bangkok, they make 100,000 baht a month," he said of the equivalent of $2,600. "They are already developed and don't need Thaksin. People like us, we'd be lucky to make 10,000 baht. We need him." A push by the urban middle class to oust Thaksin after his family's tax-free $1.9 billion sale of the telecoms firm he founded seems far-off to those in Nakhon Pathom, a flat stretch of rice and fruit fields 80 km west of Bangkok. Unlike in Bangkok, where Thaksin is accused of corruption, cronyism and abuse of power, in the countryside he is a hero who has provided cheap health care and debt relief and fought illegal drugs. "We're regular people. We don't really talk politics. We talk about how to live day-to-day," said construction worker Supai, 36, playing in the backyard of his home with his three sons. "Of course we like him. Look, whoever gives us money is good. It's all the same to us as long as we get some money." GENIE FROM A BOTTLE Supai, like those around him, echoes a deep divide between Bangkok -- where one-fifth of Thais live but which makes up nearly half of the economy -- and the countryside, which analysts say has been ignored for too long. "The genie's out of the bottle. The rural populace has been empowered," said a Bangkok-based analyst who declined to be identified. "And you're never going to be able to change that." Indeed, the rural populace helped Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai (TRT) party gain 55.6 percent of the April 2 vote, allowing Thaksin to claim a victory. But a boycott by opposition parties left parliament seats unfilled, mainly in the anti-Thaksin south. Now the main opposition parties, citing a need for political reform, are again boycotting by-elections on April 23 meant to fill the 39 empty seats from last weekend's poll. Only a full parliament can elect a new prime minister to replace Thaksin, who remains leader of his Thai Rak Thai party, but parliament must convene within 30 days of the April 2 poll. The continued uncertainty has been greeted with derision in Thailand's countryside, where 70 percent of the country's 63 million people live but which contributes less than 10 percent to economic output. "I don't like the Democrats. They said terrible things about the prime minister and ruined all his projects," said watermelon hawker Hakiew Sae-gno, 61, about the biggest opposition party. "He (Thaksin) is a big, important person who helps our king and takes care of us. If he doesn't pay tax that's his right." Egg vendor Mhu, 56, has put away the "Thaksin, fight!" banner displayed in her store on election day, but she hopes he will return when the political storm blows over. "People in Bangkok seem jealous that Thaksin is richer than they are," she said. "I hope he comes back. There is no one else who could possibly take his place."