It's hard for us to put ourselves in your shoes. But since you will have to make an important decision sooner rather than later, here's a little help from our editorial department. This is a list of 10 things that we think that a Thaksin existing in a parallel world, where wealth doesn't matter as much, and ego has a lesser presence in every man, would want to consider before making that big move: 

1) Stop going shopping. Seriously. This is at the top of our list because every time you step into a department store the entire nation holds its breath. You should think of the ballooning budget devoted to your security and the chances of the "Go Thaksin Go" and "Thaksin Get! Out" mobs running into each other. Hold your urge to shop until after you have made the right decision.

2) Review your family's business fortunes and answer this question truthfully: what if you hadn't been prime minister? For example, would the telecom excise tax scheme, which enormously benefited Shin Corp, been possible without a Thai Rak Thai-led government? Would the Temasek deal have been successful in its present form?

3) Make a full list of critics who have no vested interest in whether you stay or go. Forget that media tycoon if you like, but make sure your list is full and look at it with an open mind. Then write down the names of your admirers and compare the two lists.

4) You were about to compose a list containing 14 million names weren't you? Which brings us to the next suggestion: you should forget the number of votes you have ever won because that is blurring the issue and taking us nowhere. Voting can solve certain conflicts, but not in this case. This crisis can't be settled by citing electoral figures alone. To give you a little perspective, what if we say the bomb plot against you wasn't real because the majority of Bangkokians surveyed do not believe it's real?

5) You should read the archives of newspapers going two years back and beyond. This is a must. You are accusing the media of being part of the conspiracy, of telling lies, of being unfair and so on. Check out how many breaks the print media gave you and, with a fair mind, try to locate the point when things turned sour. You may be surprised to learn that the dips in your popularity coincided with words like "CTX" and "tax evasion".

6) Ask high-profile deserters like Wissanu Krea-ngam and Borwornsak Uwanno exactly what they think of you.

Have coffee with Anand Panyarachun, lunch with Thirayuth Boonmi and dinner with Prawase Wasi. Talk to academics, doctors, lawyers, artists or whoever the leading lights are. Then ask yourself why suddenly Newin Chidchob and Samak Sundaravej are your only close friends.

7) Read the 1997 Constitution. Again, with a very open heart, ask yourself whether you have held as dear its values and principles. Analyse the country's checks and balances and answer what has gone wrong.

8) Avoid fortune-tellers and voodoo practitioners. The former make us paranoid, otherwise they lose their jobs. The latter, for the same reason, give us the false belief that we can go on with our sins if we use their services. In other words, the two groups combine to trap us in a vicious circle of first being scared of our guilt and then trying to escape from the consequences of the last bad action, only to end up guiltier than you began.

9) Think of the country. Will it be in Thailand's best interest if you stay on? It's hard, but please do this with a very clear conscience.

10) Think of your family. Is it worth it?

There it is. It's up to the man himself now. In that same parallel world, we hold out hope that these suggestions will be looked at seriously before crunch time. Back to reality, we can only pray.

Tulsathit Taptim

The Nation