It was Thai cartoonists who first realised that Thaksin Shinawatra's face was square. Once they published, the public just thought of Thaksin that way. It must feel funny to him now, for the square face was first used in a complimentary way.

All this changed when the People's Alliance for Democracy pulled out all the stops to find ways of doing the prime minister down.

The shape of his face was a gift.

They dubbed him Ai Na Liam, "Square-faced Scum".

The prefix Ai is mostly used in the Northeast in front of the name of someone who is the speaker's junior; in the Central plain, where Khun has been used for decades, it comes over as rude.

The more the PAD shout the name, the more people who prefer to remain neutral try to avoid the word liam "square" in general so as not to seem socially divisive.

That includes The Pizza Company, which has just this month introduced a pizza of, shall we say, unconventional shape, which it is calling "Pizza Na Si Liam".

Only the long form si liam "foursquare" instead of the bare liam stops it being utterly infuriating to Thaksin supporters, but we shouldn't be at all surprised if it didn't catch on in the other camp for sheer love of the liam anyway.

Partying on regardless

Names can indeed create perception, which is a good reason for all parents to think long and hard before they name their children, for changing later could be difficult.

That is the case for Japan's deeply conservative ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party, which is anything but a liberal organisation.

The Associated Press reported over the weekend that the party was about to change its name to bring its image abroad more into line with its ideals.

Having ruled Japan nearly single-handedly for 50 years, the LDP is considering a proposal to change its official English name.

And the new party monicker is: the "Party of Freedom Demo-cracy".

Isn't it marvellous?

Even when they are changing the name, they can't let go of that word "democracy".

That alone tells you a lot about what they are up to.

achara_d@nationgroup.com