What would the late Payom Chulanont, once deemed a national traitor, say about his son now?

Surayud has lived in the shadow of his father, who went into exile when Surayud was just six years old. The son didn't try to follow his father's footsteps, but the label of "communist's son" haunted his childhood. Ironically, it was his desire to salvage his family's name that eventually put him at the apex of Thai politics despite his initial intention to stay away from it to avoid his father's mistake of getting involved at one its most turbulent periods.

Surayud's memories of his father are quite vague, so he spent time collecting bits and pieces of information to discover what sort of man he was.

Payom, once a promising military officer with political ambitions, was forced to take refuge with the Communist Party of Thailand following a purge of the armed forces led by military strongman Field Marshal Prapas Jarusathian.

According to a biography of Surayud written by journalist Wassana Nanuam, Surayud grew up without a father to idolise. But he was always curious about what kind of person his father was. Superficially, people say, they have different characteristics. Payom was outgoing and cheerful; Surayud is quiet and was once dubbed a "tiger who rarely smiles".

However, people who knew them both say the father was a man of strong will and independent spirit and these are the traits that have been passed on to his son.

Surayud was supposed to grow up a privileged child, as his parents came from well-connected families. Payom ran for a House seat from Phetchaburi. He joined the coup staged by Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsongkram in November 8, 1947. But later the winds of political change forced him to take refuge in the jungles.

Surayud then became a rebel's son. His house was searched and his ambition to join the Army was treated with suspicion. His early days in the cadet school were secretly monitored and he had to overcome misperceptions among his superiors because of his family history. Surayud later managed to prove that he didn't share his father's ambition to change the regime and his military career began to flourish.

A childhood meeting with his father, who was already one of the country's most wanted men, confirmed his determination to join the military. Shortly before Payom went into exile in China, he asked his brother to take Surayud to see him for one last time at the Thai-Burmese border. Payom changed three horses along the rough path to see his son. They spent a day together. It was a time that Surayud cherished for the rest of his life.

Then Payom went to study Marxist-Leninist ideology in China and later became a communist leader in Thailand known as "Comrade Kamtan".

Surayud left his father determined to rescue his family's name by becoming a soldier of His Majesty the King. He graduated from the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy with Class 12 in 1965. All of his classmates knew of his background as the son of a communist rebel.

Surayud met his father again briefly when Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat came to power. But Payom had to go into exile again after the end of Sarit's reign in 1963.

Before that, Surayud was surprised to find his father on his doorstep one day. Payom suggested that his son study to become a military technician instead of a soldier, citing the ups and downs of his own military career. But Surayud told his father that he had already decided to join the infantry because he thought it required real combat excellence, signalling his ambition to climb up to the top of the Army. His father was stunned.

In the 1970s, Thailand was still in fear of the spread of communism and a key assignment of military officers was suppressing communists. During this period, Surayud tried to learn news of his father through intelligence people and communist leaders. His father later became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

Now, father and son were fighting on different sides of the battlefield. Class 12 officers entered military service at the height of the secret battle to gain dominance over Laos during the Vietnam War. Surayud served on the frontline in Laos and later fought the communist insurgency in Thailand's Northeast.

Surayud's worst nightmare was that he might have to confront his father in battle. Luckily, father and son never crossed paths. But his father's plight made Surayud sympathetic to the insurgency.

In the late 1970s there were two schools of thought on how to deal with communism. One camp preferred a hard-line approach, while the other preferred a lenient and peaceful approach, an idea shared by Surayud.

Surayud met his father for the last time in 1981. Having learned that Payom was dying, Surayud asked General Prem Tinsulanonda, then prime minister and his mentor, to arrange for him to accompany then-Industry Minister Chatichai Choonhavan on a trip to China, in spite of the political sensitivity.

Surayud was surprised by what he saw in this old man who he had not met for decades. His father was frail because of complications from high blood pressure, diabetes, gout and paralysis. He learned that his father had always tried to locate his son's whereabouts in the battlefield, apparently in an attempt to avoid confronting him.

Before Surayud left, Payom told him to behave well, saying the meeting would likely be their last. Payom was trying to compose himself to stand up for a photograph with his son. Surayud never showed the picture to anyone outside his family. Payom died shortly afterwards.

Surayud continued to climb up the military ranks and eventually became Army commander-in-chief in 1998. Over the years, Surayud proved himself to be a career soldier striving to promote professionalism in the military. He put soldiers back in their barracks and never intervened in politics.

However, a twist of fate has made Surayud the 24th prime minister of Thailand.

For a man once dubbed a traitor's son, Surayud might be enjoying sweet revenge. But now he has a mission to correct unfairness and injustice in Thai society, the things that drove Payom away, and make his father proud.

Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation