As the tension mounts, caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be wishing that he could go to sleep tonight and wake up on April 2.

The PM is fighting furiously to keep his sinking ship afloat - and try to sweep all 500 House seats in the April 2 election.

Thaksin seems to really believe such an outcome would save him.

His Thai Rak Thai Party will win the election if it takes place, but he appears to be taking the biggest gamble of his life - risking his mind in order to get one more taste of victory.

Apart from a mass rally at Sanam Luang last Friday, in which the Thai Rak Thai Party mobilised more than 200,000 people to support Thaksin's bid to remain in power, the premier is finding reality so rough and bitter that he can no longer face it.

As troubles mount in Bangkok he is fleeing to the provinces where he can be assured he will receive only "honey and roses" from the grass-root supporters who still have faith in him.

As calls for his resignation and rumours of possible a military coup mount, he runs further and faster.

He also has to hide from continuous mass rallies against him, attempts by third parties to cause violence, petitions to HM the King to appoint a "royal-sponsored" premier and a lengthening queue of prominent figures calling for him to quit.

The extent of his "shaky nerves" prompted him to call meetings with senior military officers over the past few weeks so he could determine whether they were still loyal to him.

Thaksin must be finding it almost unbelievable that he has to steer clear of Bangkok.

Just last year his overwhelming popularity led to a landslide for his party, with Thai Rak Thai grabbing 32 of the 37 House seats in the capital.

But if he remains in Bangkok he will have to endure something he has shown little patience for - criticism.

Protests by the People's Alliance for Democracy and middle-class voters calling for his exit have succeeded in driving him from the capital.

Despite numerous warnings that he should stand down before it's too late, so that he can go with honour, Thaksin has remained defiant. But to do so he has had to flee into his imagination.

In the provinces he can cling to his heroic vision of himself as indispensable to the country.

Over the past several days he has visited Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Nakhon Ratchasima to hear thousands of people cheering and greeting him.

On Sunday evening, as the anti-Thaksin rally moved from Sanam Luang along Rajdamnoen Road to Government House, Thaksin swiftly changed his schedule.

After meeting thousands of supporters in Khon Kaen earlier that day he decided to spend the night in the province rather than return to Bangkok, as earlier planned.

More than 200 police officers had been dispatched to Soi Charunsanitwong 69 - the entrance to Thaksin's residence - in case demonstrators brought their calls for the premier to step down to his doorstep.

Thaksin told reporters on Monday that he went to bed at 10pm Sunday night. He said he had not followed news reports about the tens of thousands of demonstrators who marched on Government House.

A source close to him said the premier had read a 50-page survey that, he told his close aides, showed his popularity was "still high".

Despite this, it's difficult to believe he could have had a good night's sleep without being medicated.

With the crisis yet to peak, Thaksin will no doubt find this month to be unusually long.

But he is so busy struggling to get through each day safely that he may be unable to stop and actually recognise that there is no place for him on the other side. 

Political Desk

The Nation