Democracy lovers are willing to shed blood or even die on the streets in order to win back the Constitution. Academics devote their entire lives to arguing how good democracy is. We write letters and debate on Web boards about how we agree or disagree with the coup. We all think we know best. We all believe our opinions are right. But at the end of the day, or after the painful political reform process, the same old faces will win the election, show up at Parliament and then head to Government House to become ministers and cause trouble to the country again.

The executives of Thai Rak Thai, including Thaksin, have resigned en masse over fears that the court might dissolve the party and bar them from politics for five years. The Thai Rak Thai executives must be looking for jobs to keep them going while they wait for the verdict. Here is my speculation on what key Thai Rak Thai executives might want to do in order to recover from the shock of the military coup:

Thaksin Shinawatra might want to turn his dream into reality by going ahead with his Enjoy Yourself Party. He floated this idea, quite prophetically, at the Asia-Europe Summit in Helsinki, a week before he was to lose his job as prime minister. Since there is nothing much to do at the Enjoy Yourself Party, which can substitute for Thai Rak Thai with full honour, Thaksin might spend most of his time singing with his karaoke machine in his London apartment, full of broken glasses.

Do I hear "I did it ... myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy wayyyyyy"?

Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra could go shopping at Harrods. But she might also want to watch Shakespeare's "Macbeth" at one of London's famous playhouses from time to time. Lady Macbeth is quite an extraordinary lady, isn't she?

Sudarat Keyuraphan is reluctant to succeed Thaksin as leader of Thai Rak Thai. She might want to pursue a PhD degree in botany. She has been so successful at preparing the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek 2006, scheduled for November 1 to January 31, that she has come to love flowers and plants dearly. Sudarat would be a great botanist.

Don't worry about her dissertation because Dr Rapee Sagarik will act as her academic supervisor.

As for Surakiart Sathirathai, he went to the Surayud government yesterday to formally acknowledge that he's no longer trotting after the UN's top job. Thailand just can't live without Surakiart, however. But since he has been campaigning for UN secretary-general for three years, he should have acquired very good knowledge of the UN system. He could make a great official guide to the UN buildings in New York. The only place he can't take the tourists to is the UN Assembly.

Newin Chidchob will never want to retire from politics. But he might want to return to his native province Buri Ram to take a hard look at what went wrong with his black magic. The Khmer voodoo he has championed thus far was not powerful enough to help the Thaksin government overcome the coup. Where is the Golden Boy (kumarn thong)?

Shortly after feeling the fresh air of freedom following two weeks of captivity, Yongyuth Tiyapairat said the first thing he would like to do is leave Thailand for Canada as quickly as possible. Probably he would like to study refrigerator repair in Canada. He already has a one-and-only reputation as "Yudh the Refrigerator".

Dr Somkid Jatusripitak will be going back to take care of his baby after five years in politics. He might want to open an Italian restaurant called Paesano Six. This would remind him about the heroic act that would have turned him into the leader of Thai Rak Thai but which never came to pass.

Otherwise, the coup would never have happened.

Pansak Vinyaratn has had this "romantic" experience with a coup before. He was an adviser to the Chatichai government until it was overthrown in 1991 by the Suchinda-led forces and he had to leave for London. Now history has repeated itself. He was an adviser to Thaksin from the beginning; the Thaksin government was overthrown by a coup, and Pansak again has had to seek political refuge in London.

What he is doing all day, one can guess, is listening to his favourite classical music albums through his headphones, while sipping coffee and checking e-mails at a Starbucks outlet.

As soon as he was freed from captivity, Dr Prommin Lertsuridej announced that he and the Thaksin government had tried to protect democracy until the last minute. There are so many versions of democracy in this country that you get confused and don't know which one is truly democratic. But he may want to visit Xian in China to check out what has gone wrong with Mao's "Forest Surrounds the City" theory. Why does this theory work in China but not in Thailand?

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation