Somchai: A reluctant premier with an ambitious better half

But Yaowapa Wongsawat is no ordinary wife who got married to a senior judge who became the Justice Ministry's top civil servant before being named the country's chief executive. She can rightfully claim to be the only Thai woman with a brother who is a former prime minister and a husband who holds the current premiership.

She is no ordinary housewife, either. Yaowapa heads a powerful North-based faction within the ruling People Power Party (PPP). With her brother Thaksin Shinawatra in self-imposed exile abroad, Yaowapa could arguably assert the right to inherit Thaksin's political legacy.

In the wake of an apparent breakaway move by the "Friends of Newin" group within the PPP, Yaowapa made every possible effort to portray herself as Thaksin's defender to the end.

Somchai would be the first to admit that his political instincts can't match those of his wife. In fact, he wasn't supposed to be in this hot seat anyway, had it not been for the accident caused by Samak Sundaravej's brush with the law.

Somchai's first teacher, Srichan Poompuang, 91 years old this year, minced no words when he told the prime minister during last weekend's encounter in their hometown: "If you are afraid of your wife, you won't last long as prime minister."

The teacher didn't have to say the premier was henpecked. He simply told him: "If you have come to this position because of your wife's influence, you won't be able to hold your own."

Somchai was born in the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, but is married to Yaowapa, former premier Thaksin's younger sister, from the northern province of Chiang Mai.

His teacher had this to say to him: "Somchai, even if you could win the hearts of the southern people, if you are still scared of your wife, you won't be able to survive politically. You may lose the will to fight."

The teacher says he believes Somchai's wife played a crucial role in his attaining the country's highest political position. Somchai may not agree with Thaksin on every issue but he ended up in his current situation because he simply couldn't resist her wishes.

The teacher then came up with the ultimate golden piece of advice. He told Premier Somchai: "Make sure you know the difference between the interests of the family and those of the country."

For all intents and purposes, Somchai had always been destined to play the role of the "man behind the successful woman", rather than the other way round.

Now that his first teacher, out of real concern for one of his best students, has issued a public warning to the premier about the danger of falling under his wife's influence - something even his staunchest supporters wouldn't dare to say, even in private - Somchai will have to prove to the rest of the country that he doesn't fit this particular definition of a henpecked husband: "The man who is afraid to think for himself usually chooses the wrong woman to think for him."

But Somchai must first convince a sceptical public that there is absolutely no truth to the widespread speculation that he owes his present position to an influential faction leader who happens to be his wife and the sister of an even more influential former prime minister.

That, alas, will be an even tougher task than to follow his first teacher's advice.

(Share your views in my blog at http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/ThaiTalk or www.suthichaiyoon.blogspot.com.)