Even love won't make her take the post

Now she has chosen to set herself free.

Poonpirom has decided not to stay on as a minister in Somchai Wongsawat's government, saying that she has achieved some success during her term and that the crises have been eased.

"I took the post when Thailand was beleaguered by a political and economic crisis, plus the high oil prices. I did my best by setting policies on liquefied petroleum gas, the promotion of natural gas, power price management and the promotion of alternative fuels," she said, on the sidelines of the ministry's seminar on "Fuel Options for Power Generation in Asean".

Her replacement is expected to be Wannarat Charnnukul, chairman of House Committee on Energy, who is, in fact, Poonpirom's brother-in-law.

Known as "Madam Ting", Poonpirom looks more like a wife and mother of two instead of a politician. She likes travelling, dining, reading, and sometimes, even writing.

"I'm not a politician. I'm the wife of a politician," Poonpirom has said.

Maybe she had an inkling that someone in the party had an eye on her post, but instead of being pushed out, she has chosen to withdraw.

Suwat may be not happy with his wife's withdrawal, but considering that she is 53 and has been married to him for 25 years he should sympathise and let her do what she wants to be happy.

What do they really stand for?

The saying that a picture is worth a thousand words applies well to the Puea Thai Party's logo.

Originally the logo, the Thai letter "Phor Phan" in the three colours of the national flag, looked suspiciously like that of the People Power Party and its past self, Thai Rak Thai.

But on Sunday, Puea Thai's newly elected party leader Suchart Thadadamrongvej came up with a new logo - the two "Por Thor" letters.

Maybe "Por Thor" is meant to remind them more of Pojaman and Thaksin, the real bosses, instead of just People Power and Thai Rak Thai Party.

jintana@nationgroup.com