Parit: the next Abhisit?

But the talk of the town was not Abhisit's duty on his first day. It was a young and handsome lad, who accompanied Abhisit to Government House. This fellow, who attracted media attention, was Abhisit's nephew, Parit Watcharasin or "I-Tim".

The 16-year-old studies at Eton College, the famous English school his uncle once attended. Parit is on a school break and will return to England today.

"I-Tim" appears to be keen on politics. In fact, he had planned to attend the policy statement at Parliament last week but had to cancel due to the big protest outside by anti-government red shirts.

Yesterday Abhisit gave his nephew a guided tour of the buildings in the government residence. Parit also attended a meeting the PM held with government officials.

I-Tim told reporters he was interested in politics but couldn't say if he would follow his uncle's footsteps and enter politics.

Despite pursuing similar paths, there is one difference between them.

"I support Liverpool but my uncle supports Newcastle. And my team just bashed his team by five goals," I-Tim said.

There is no love lost between relatives when it comes to football.

The joys of politics

It's not so surprising that Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva refused to use the official bullet-proof car made for Thai leaders. While he has received many death threats in recent days, they aren't anything new and it looks like he has got used to them.

In an interview with The Nation's sister newspaper Daily Xpress last year the Democrat Party leader revealed he had received anonymous and threatening letters as well as hoaxes both at home and at the party headquarters.

"I am neither surprised nor stressed about the threats. My wife also understands the situation well. It's natural that there's both love and hate out there," Abhisit once said.

"One person writes to scold me every three days. I recognise the handwriting. The writer even uses the same kind of paper and envelope," he said.

Being considerate about the writer's feelings, he reads every note even though he knows the writer's only goal is to upset him.