19 December 2013 Last updated at 01:23 GMT
Thailand's 'red villages' eye Bangkok protestsBy Jonathan Head
They were also feeling aggrieved by the common refrain among the protesters that the people of Isaan, as the north-east is known, are too uneducated to know what they are voting for.
"Well, I know they have more education than me," said one old woman, who told me she had left school at the age of 10.
"But at least I understand what democracy is. Those people in Bangkok, who have been to university or studied overseas, how come they don't understand democracy?"
Throughout the recent crisis in Bangkok, the red shirts have been almost invisible.
That is partly because their leaders did not want to risk a confrontation with the protest movement which might prompt military intervention, and partly because their own movement has become factionalised and hard to mobilise from across rural Thailand.
People in the north-east repeatedly expressed frustration that they had to stay put, and watch the Bangkok protesters trying to overthrow the government they elected.
The loudest complaint I heard was about the allegation that the red shirts had been bought by the governing party.
Rice farmers at Udon Thani Rice farmer Daoruang Sinthuwapee (front) says the rice subsidy scheme has greatly benefited his family
They were insulted by the notion that a few banknotes handed out during election time could induce them to give years of unwavering loyalty to Thaksin Shinawatra, and now his sister, Ms Yingluck.
Unprecedented help?
But what about the more sophisticated allegation that they had been bought by populist policies?
At a rice mill in Udon Thani, farmers had started queuing from the early hours of the morning to sell their harvest.
It's an annual ritual that begins with their trucks being weighed, samples of rice taken to assess moisture content, and then the sacks are opened, and the rice poured onto the growing mountains of grain stored at the mill.
In the past, they could never be sure what price they would get. Today, they are guaranteed a very generous price by the government.
The sugar harvest at Udon Thani Agriculture remains central to many villages in Thailand's north-east

"It means we have money left over to spend," farmer Daoruang Sinthuwapee told me. "We have enough to school our children, and more for the family. We never had this kind of help before."
But there was some uncertainty over when the farmers would be paid.
The Bank of Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, which makes the payments, has been unable to raise enough funds on the bond market this year to cover the huge cost of the scheme.
In other parts of Thailand, farmers have started protesting over late payments.
The benefits of the rice scheme may ensure most farmers in the north-east vote for the governing party in the February election. But many economists expect the scheme to collapse, because the massive rice stocks cannot be sold on the international market for the price the government paid.
It could backfire badly on the prime minister.
Her decision to raise the minimum wage is also popular with workers. But not with factory owner Pornthep Saksujarit.
Workers in Pornthep Saksujarit's factory Pornthep Saksujarit's factory was squeezed by the government's decision to raise the minimum wage
He employs 400 people at his plant, making sensors and other electronic components for cars and cameras. It is the kind of investment that is helping the north-east move away from dependence on agriculture.
He told me the sudden rise in the minimum wage, to 300 Baht ($9; £6) a day, squeezed his margins to the point where he has had to stop workers from doing overtime.
"We would like help from the government, with infrastructure, or cutting taxes or the price of utilities," he said.
"But next time they want to raise the minimum wage, please do it gradually."