CHIANG MAI - Frustrated, homeless and bitterly disappointed - this is the reality for "Red Shirt" Parichart Chanmanee as she returns to her northern hometown after two months of protesting in Bangkok.

The single mother-of-two made the long journey back by bus on Thursday after a deadly military crackdown forced the anti-government movement's leaders to surrender, sparking looting and major arson attacks by hardcore protestors.

As she came home angered by the protest's failure to bring about the government's downfall, the 52-year-old faced another blow: she was homeless, with her belongings thrown out for failing to pay rent while she was away.

Yet Parichart's destitution has not softened her enthusiasm for the Red Shirts' cause - a campaign, they say, for democracy, justice and equality against the mainly Bangkok-based Thai elites.

"I am happy Bangkok was in flames. Let the rich feel what suffering means. Abhisit must tumble," she said, referring to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, whose government the Reds say is illegitimate and army-backed.

Thailand is largely split between the Reds, thousands of whom left their heartlands in the rural north and northeast to travel for the Bangkok protests which started in mid-March, and the rival, pro-establishment "Yellow Shirts".

Many of the Reds back Thaksin Shinawatra, the fugitive former premier who was ousted in a 2006 coup, for his populist policies when in power, while Thai elites see him as corrupt, authoritarian and a threat to the revered monarchy.

Sitting by a coffee house in Chiang Mai, Thaksin's birthplace and a popular northern tourist city, Parichart and her friend Saisunee Assawasunthornkul, a 48-year-old fruit juice peddler, explained what they were fighting for.

"We took to the streets to demonstrate our frustration with rising costs of rice, oil and medical charges," said Saisunee.

"The elites are enjoying while the poor are suffering," she added.

Parichart told AFP that she was involved in security at the sprawling protest site that shut down Bangkok's main retail hub for weeks.

"My task was to make sure no weapons were brought into the camps. There was solidarity among us. We were united," she said.

Saisunee meanwhile helped prepare food for the Red Shirts, and she said she sold her motorcycle, television set and a sewing machine to raise the money she needed to afford travel to the capital.

"I miss my friends who slept with me on the roads in Bangkok. It was hard and hot. But we were all equal. We ate the same food, we laughed and we shared our political views. It was rough and tough," she said.

Saisunee said she saw a protester killed by a sniper and sought refuge in the police hospital when she was alerted about Wednesday's impending army crackdown.

"I did not want to die," she said.

Despite Oxford-educated Abhisit's call for national reconciliation in the wake of last week's mayhem and the arrest of key leading Red Shirts, the passion of rank-and-file protesters such as Parichart and Saisunee still burns.

Parichart said she was prepared to die to remove the current political elite, adding defiantly that she was "not afraid of the guns" and planning to resume work as a masseuse to save up for future rallies.

"We are excited about returning to Bangkok streets soon," her friend Saisunee said.

"We know our struggle will be a long one. We want a clean government now. We want cheap rice. We want justice for all. There will be a new wave of protests," she added.