Thaksin’s Public Lover(s)

News about Thaksin Shinawatra, the man who once had everything, are still kind of censored by Thailand’s military government.

But somehow the wise guy remains the talk of town. Even though he doesn’t do the talk.

He lets other people do the talk. And not even accomplished politicians for that. His most important voices here in Thailand are two young, completely apolitical women: Sunisa and Lydia.

It began with Sunisa or “Lieutenant Awol,” the 32-year-old army employee who had ambushed Thaksin at his London exile for interviews.

Sunisa’s harvest of the trip, a book called “Thaksin Where Are You”, became an instant bestseller.

Now there is Lydia, the answer to Sunisa’s rhetorical title question, with her own book: “Lydia … Here I Am!”

The winner of it all? Thaksin, who suffers a news blackout in Thailand. But his two young ambassadors Sunisa and Lydia keep him in the public eye – and create a lot of sympathy for the man who is accused of so many, still unproven missteps and crimes.

Lydia alias Saanrat Wisutthithadato, 20, felt the need to publish the book as she herself was mentioned in the book of Sunisa Lertpakawat.

Sunisa’s book claimed that the certain Lydia was Thaksin’s partner in golfing, shopping and karaoke.

But what was supposed to be a sex scandal had been turned into an opportunity to discuss the goodness of Thaksin.

Lydia is a pop singer who wants the world to know that Thaksin is not her lover, but just like a father to her. And so she wrote the book that here she is.

Just reading that title makes you feel pure joy and expect profound journalistic integrity.

As Lydia – called the “R&B Queen” by The Nation – feels the need to clear her name.

Lydia assures us: “200 percent! I am not Thaksin’s gig!” – gig being a Thai colloquial word for a very special lover.

“Por (papa) Thaksin,” says Lydia, “is my role model and he’s motivated me to learn a lot of things in my life. More importantly, he has inspired me to search for the genuine meaning of the word democracy.”

Democracy.

Thaksin, Lydia says, is a family man, a golfer and a shopper. And she was his partner in golf and partner in shopping and, and karaoke. Karaoke being the synonym of many truths.

I always wondered how Asia’s most important politicians still have time for karaoke.

And Lydia goes on: She called Thaksin “father” and his wife, Pojaman, “mother”.

It’s all fine then! Good friends! – the naive observer would think.

It’s not.

Why would a billionaire who is bored to death, why would a father of three who spent millions to buy a British soccer club just to ensure that boredom doesn’t kill him, why wouldn’t that man be clever enough to turn a looming scandal involving a young woman into an opportunity.

Because: Sunisa and Lydia are better publicity for Thaksin than anything he could say himself.

First of all, even without any copulation being done, they kind of prove his virility. Don’t argue. That’s just how it is perceived.

Secondly: They raise the man with his tragic fate into the heights of Dallas, Denver Clan, you name it.

And those mean tales are heroes’ tales over here. You’re not becoming a hero here by fighting for morals and values, but by fighting for your very own self.

J. R. returns.

And it gets worse:

By opening Lydia’s book we’re not only forced to see a sultry publicity photograph of Lydia. We’re also seeing her having a friendly cuddle with the former prime minister.

But who wants to see a dull cover.

Emotions prevail in this country where nothing is ever judged based simply on facts. Drama and spin are ever more important factors.

Et voilà. Obviously unaware of the consequences of their own actions the two young women had created the perfect drama Thais love. Real soap opera in the making.

Sunisa and Lydia were bigger headlines than other front page stuff such as “Thaksin moved billions abroad”.

Thaksin denies to neither have sponsored nor inspired the publication of “Thaksin Where Are You” and “Lydia … Here I Am!”.

Photographs in the books were said to be given to the two authors by Thaksin’s son Panthongtae.

Nevertheless, both Sunisa and Lydia are perfect lobbying for Thaksin. The disgraced leader remains a talk of the masses – and not only because the new main opposition party keeps his flame alive, even though the military junta tries to black out news of the former strongman who himself was a master of blacking out news.

But because Sunisa and Lydia prance through those censorship walls.

Sunisa keeps assuring that she had had no relationship whatsoever with that man. She just wanted to find out the truth. Finding out the truth by buying a one-way ticket to London and loitering around Thaksin’s house for hours. In the cold. Until he led her in. What led to the book “Thaksin Where Are You”. Showing Thaksin with an open shirt, smiling, every mother-in-law’s dream.

And, insists Lydia, her book title has nothing to do with the Sunisa’s that preceded hers. “The titles are just close.”

It’s one of those so many pretensions you hear in Thailand and you know they’re a lie – but the liar lies so honestly, how could you ever accuse of lying.

Thanks to the two young women Thaksin could slip through the junta’s media barricades built to prevent the exiled politician from telling his side of the story to his people.

And who could tell the story more touching than two innocent young model-like ambassadors.

Thaksin had other means to stay in the limelight, such as with interviews he gave to international media. He hired three major American public relations and lobbying firms to manage his image.

Thai media couldn’t turn a blind eye on that, they had to report it. But no foreign publication nor lobbyist created a more positive hype for Thaksin than Sunisa and Lydia did.

Their naive affection made the tragedy called Thaksin more human and more approachable. The young women humanized Thaksin, they made the strongman become an ordinary person you want to sit down with and call your friend.

Sunisa and Lydia two simple books keep Thaksin in the public eye like no Manchester City game does – except Sven’s boys will win the Premiership title. The nightmare of the junta.

But by then we’ll have learned of new and other Lydias and Sunisas.