Substitute for chickpeas in Thailand
I have personally made felafel with split peas (both green and yellow) as well as chickpeas and several other types of bean. I have not tried red beans as I don't like them. While not exactly the same as chickpea, the split pea felafel were felafel, not something unrecognizable as felafel, though the green ones were quite green ;-)

I don't use canned beans for felafel, I use soaked dried beans.