Old bruiser

The PAD accuses the ruling People Power Party of being the proxy of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra and is demanding the government step down. The PAD is also calling for the adoption of its so-called "New Politics" that will require a significant chunk of Parliament be selected, as opposed to elected.

A few weeks ago, Pallop went to Hong Kong, where he met Thaksin. The pretext of the trip was to verify whether Thaksin was a royalist or not. Most people in their right mind could have told him the answer and saved him the trip.

The problem with Pallop is that no one knows what to make of him. Is he a political broker, a turncoat, a mole, an opportunist? Perhaps the answer is a combination of all of these.

The battle-hardened general with a self-inflated ego can't get out of the political spotlight. It seems that he doesn't want to.

Before the Hong Kong trip, Pallop went to see old pal Chamlong Srimuang, a key PAD leader, to see how he could help.

Pallop has lots of qualities that could come in handy for the PAD. He is known to get things done by any means necessary, regardless of the collateral damage or political consequences.

Mention any major security-political incident - Black May in 1992, the Krue Se standoff in 2004 - and Pallop's name is in there somewhere.

But Chamlong knows the political theatre is no longer the battlefields of Indochina but the pavements of Bangkok. In the end, Chamlong came to the realisation that there is no room for loose lips around a Cold War warrior hooked on the adrenaline of the old days.

Pallop's desire to be part of Isoc comes at a time when Thaksin is poised to go all out against his enemies now that the British government has slammed the door on him. Thaksin said he will name names and has taken out big ads in a major newspaper to show he wants to be taken seriously.

For his supporters, as well as for Pallop, this juncture in Thaksin's political life is a defining moment. Pallop, too, sees himself as a no-nonsense man. But old illusions die hard. His no-nonsense persona self may have been true when he was behind enemy lines three or four decades ago, or when he ordered troops to carry out an assault on the Krue Se mosque against a group of 38 men who were barely armed. Never mind the sanctity of the mosque, or the fact that these men were almost defenceless. But even if he gets some position in the Isoc lineup under some instantly created mandate, Pallop won't have the same standing as when he was under Thaksin in 2004.

Under the new Isoc structure, Army chief General Anupong Paochinda and his chief-of-staff call the shots. In other words, Pallop won't be able to hijack Bangkok the same way he walked over the militants at Krue Se. But then again, this is a man full of surprises.