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 However, Virabongsa sur¬prised many of us by accept¬ing an invita¬tion from the BOT to partici¬pate in a semi¬nar in this year's sympo¬sium.

The central bank invited him in March. As usual, he declined the invitation. We have no clue whether he gave any strong reason for doing so.

As a result, the central bank asked former finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn to replace him. But Chalongphob, who wanted to keep a low pro¬file after his political path, declined the invitation.

In a witty tactic, the BOT then invited Virabongsa again, by sending the assistant governor, Suchada Kirakul, who is a for¬mer student of Virabongsa, to act as an intermediary.

Finally, the central bank's dream was fulfilled when the economic guru accepted the invitation. At that time, he was already appointed the govern¬ment's chief economic adviser.

Yesterday, when Virabongsa was scheduled to come to the seminar as speaker, the central bank was stunned when Virabongsa made a phone call to senior director Amara Sriphayak, another former stu¬dent of his, to say that he could not join them. He gave no rea¬son for his decision.

His phone call occurred while the guests and host were hav¬ing lunch before the second session of the twoday seminar was due to start. So, the cen¬tral bank had no time to seek anyone to replace him.

Among a group of reporters, BOT Deputy Governor Atchana Waiquamdee mentioned Virabongsa's absence.

Narongchai Akrasanee, the government's economic advis¬er, who was apparently in the group, said that he had acknowledged Virabongsa's absence yesterday morning.

Interpreting from Narongchai's words, we can guess that Virabongsa no longer wants to be the chief economic adviser and wants to "consume less, spend less".

Asked if he has given any advice to the government dur¬ing the current political tur¬moil, Narongchai said he already ceased his advisory task because the office (Government House) was closed. And he himself wanted to consume less, spend less.