Sor Jed's back from the farm with a fresh crop of innuendo

Published on October 15, 2007

And, in keeping with the rationale of sub-trustworthy politicians, he explains that it's time to "serve the country" once again.

When last we heard from Sor Jed, he was telling readers he'd been threatened by "influential people" (you know who you are) and feared for his life.

Two years on, "Sor Jed Beab Siew Hua Chang" is back as a weekly column, and it came with a bang: a pair of saliva-generating stories about the love affairs of a powerful politician. As usual, part of the fun was figuring out who he was talking about from the clues scattered through the columns. The politico in question was identified as "Si-na-are", which in Thai sounds a lot like Sinatra. But Frank Sinatra is dead, of course, so he must be talking about somebody else.

The yarn brought several high-profile women into play, weaving them into a kind of R-rated Hollywood B-movie. The second instalment was titled "So-paenee Si Loh" - a suggestion that there are four "prostitutes" who represent this scurrilous man's armed forces.

Sor Jed's comeback was much more successful than Britney Spears', and each of the columns drew more than 1,000 comments, although there were plenty of critics, same as Britney. Some didn't like the harsh writing style, while others felt that a news website is no place for "mudslinging".

"There's nothing in this column that would help the country progress in a better direction," one reader griped.

The debate seems to back up Sor Jed's reasoning: He is "serving the country" by getting people to question what's right and wrong, even if it comes down to an argument over whether the public's right to know justifies an invasion of privacy.

But more than that, Sor Jed proves that good old filthy gossip will still win any election in this country.