MR ONE

MR ONE
If words could kill, many would die
Oh, dear! Politicians are turning their guns on their rivals once again.

Published on December 18, 2007


Did anyone notice we just passed through a "national armistice"?

During his birthday celebrations His Majesty the King twice called for unity among parties in the current political crisis. His Majesty was concerned the situation could worsen and lead to unrest.

As usual, politicians were "united" in acknowledging His Majesty's advice, and vowed to follow it. Thus peace prevailed for several days as they stopped verbally abusing each other.

But the news from December 6, the day after the King's birthday, was of nothing but verbal attacks among politicians and

junta-installed officials.

Their typical statement was, "I appreciate His Majesty's call for national unity, but …"

They always have conditions, maybe to protect or benefit themselves.

But did he tie his shoelaces himself?

"Where is my fairy godmother?" Prachai Leophairatana is probably asking himself as he suffers one political disaster after another.

The Criminal Court convicted him of stock manipulation on December 4 and sentenced him to three years in jail. His company was fined Bt6.9 billion.

Prachai criticised and refused to accept the ruling. The result? The court sentenced him to one month in jail for contempt.

He had to apologise to Election Commissioner Sodsri Satayathum for accusing her of a plot to ruin his Matchima Thipataya Party. Otherwise, he would have been sued.

Besides external threats, "Uncle Prachai" has had to fight a faction within his party that called for him to quit after being sentenced.

Last Wednesday, a reporter noticed Prachai wearing mismatched shoes while greeting crowds in his hometown of Saraburi. One was black with a stripe and the other was black without the stripe.

Prachai seemed irritated when he discovered his mistake. He made a joke of it, then walked straight to his car to make it "right".

The next day he visited a leading hospital for a check-up. Maybe the

Bt6.9-billion fine was too much to handle.

The Nation