They arrived at dawn to wait for their beloved former premier and even though they did not get to see her, they had no regrets at all.

Moreover, her supporters told the Nation they believed she would eventually play by the rules … when the rule of law could be guaranteed to the Shinawatras.

They said Yingluck’s disappearance yesterday might have been her best option, considering how unfairly they felt she had been treated in law under the junta government.

“We’re aware that her claim about suffering from Meniere’s disease may or may not be true,” said Chantalak Sangkhayothin from Petchburi. “While I’m concerned about her health, whether she lied or not is the least of our worries. And it doesn’t break our faith in her.”

Another Yingluck fan, who wanted to remain anonymous, said a few hours after the Supreme Court was told Yingluck was reportedly sick: “The court just wants to shoo us away but we won’t move. She’ll certainly show up this afternoon.”

The former prime minister did not, however, appear, and her fans eventually started packing their things and leaving. Police officers standing guard also appeared to relax their tight control over people’s movements.

But some still stayed to support Yingluck’s ex-commerce minister Boonsong Teriyapirom, who in the afternoon was sentenced to 42 years in jail. The crowd booed at passing prison vans but did nothing further than that.

The authorities have been intercepting vehicles that allegedly had people on board who were planning to attend the hearing despite the junta’s ban on political gatherings. Thousands managed to turn up from several provinces, and some even travelled from abroad.

Approached by The Nation, many said they were either farmers or relatives of farmers. They had specially gone to thank Yingluck for the very reason she had been prosecuted – the rice-pledging scheme.

They never accepted that she was guilty of neglect, they said, and since they had benefited from receiving higher rice prices through Yingluck’s scheme they did not feel the country had been damaged.

They also raised questions about the way the junta had proceeded with the rice stocks remaining from Yingluck’s administration. “The way they have sold the rice and dealt with rice mill operators has not been transparent?” said Daopradab, a medical technologist from Bangkok. “We have not seen any damage so how can we believe there was any?”

Daopradab was wearing a red shirt with the words “Team Pu” on it, in reference to Yingluck’s nickname. Twenty other people wore the same shirts. The group said they had met each other at a Chiang Mai temple where Yingluck was making merits. “Should she want to flee, she would have done it ages ago,” a die-hard fan said. “Staying here won’t guarantee justice. It is the same with her brother, Thaksin. Is it fair for those having served people to be deprived of their freedom? No, so they were better off leaving.”