The symbolism of Sondhi's hat

Visual messages can be as important as clever words and expressive actions. Probably because of his background in the media industry, Sondhi Limthongkul has been a local pioneer in understanding and exploiting this importance of visual messages in politics.

In late 2005, he started the wearing of yellow which became such a landmark in Thai political culture.

Only a handful of years ago, who could have imagined that coloured shirts and kids' toys like hand-clappers would come to play such a role.

Chang Noi is not sure when Sondhi started wearing the large, soft, brown, floppy trilby which has recently become a trademark. From recall, Sondhi has worn this hat occasionally for several years, but also several alternatives.

He began to use this one more often when PAD entered its amok phase in late 2008.

After the failed assassination, he had a reason to veil his head and began to wear it as a matter of course. More recently he seems to be wearing this hat regularly on public appearances, especially for his frequent visits to court rooms for defamation suits, and at political gatherings.

Perhaps the hat is supposed to draw our attention to his head, and remind us of the failed assassination bid which has rendered him immortal. But perhaps there is more to it.

Hat wearing is not part of Thai urban tradition. For protection against the sun, urban Thais think hats are for peasants and prefer an umbrella themselves. King Rama V enjoyed wearing hats while overseas, but no imitative fashion caught on at home.

A century ago, Thai officialdom copied the colonial formula of white ducks, but never took to the solar topee. In the 1940s, Phibun's edict obliging everyone to wear hats brought a storm of anger and ridicule.

The American era introduced the baseball cap, but that largely serves as a uniform for group activities ranging from political rallies through construction gangs to golf buddies. Affecting a hat as an individual act is a statement of difference and a claim for attention. Think of Seksan Prasertkul's beret and Ad Carabao's headband.

So perhaps Sondhi's hat is just part of his new image as a political leader.

But why has he chosen a hat which, when combined with a shapeless short-sleeve shirt and baggy pale chinos, makes him look like a 1920s Shanghainese shopkeeper?

Back in the early 2000s when he was switching career from media magnate to stump politician, Sondhi announced that his mission was to champion the "middle class."

Such an explicit call was quite unusual. Some people deny that class has any role in Thai politics. Some wonder whether the term "middle class" is too vague to have any meaning either in academic analysis or political rhetoric. But Sondhi publicly adopted it as a badge and a mission.

In 2007 he said, "Politically, I always believe that if I can get the middle classes all across the country to be on my side, the middle classes are the ones who suffer most, whose rights have been infringed upon, who have been taxed to the hilt, who haven't been given a chance or opportunity to get what they deserve.

" For a time the colour yellow served to draw attention and support to this mission. But this was always a visual property which Sondhi might borrow but could never own.

Back in 2006 when Sondhi launched his crusade against Thaksin, he appeared in a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Sons of China [lukjin ] Saving the Nation."

The T-shirt became one of the best sellers among the collectibles which helped to finance Sondhi's Thailand Weekly shows and then the PAD protests. The popularity of the shirt indicated that the slogan touched a chord in his audience.

In April 2007, Sondhi told Asia Times, "Ninety percent of the middle class have Chinese blood. They look up at me and say, he is my man who dares to speak on my behalf."

A couple of months later, he gave an interview in the US which was later placed on YouTube and widely circulated in other ways. In this interview, he referred to himself as "jek", the pejorative term for a Thai-Chinese which, with skill, can be used to elicit sympathy.

He describe how this "mere jek " had been able to raise a great movement of street protest against all the expectations of the old elite, and how he had suddenly got recognition from on high, and telephone calls of support. "Prem had his aide call me. General Chavalit. Everyone called me."

In this phase, Sondhi positioned himself as the nice, new-fangled lukjin/ jek /Thai-Chinese who could work with the old elite, as opposed to Thaksin who was the nasty, corrupt, old-fashioned version who could not. The size and stamina of the PAD protests suggest this appeal had some strength.

But this phase ended when Thaksin began to fade away as a serious threat, and when the army withdrew to the heights and pushed the politicians back onto the political stage. The political value of the colour yellow has now been drawn down to almost zero.

Sondhi can no longer rely on links to the generals who used him as a yappy dog and then tossed him away. The political capital left over to Sondhi from his exploits of the past four years are his public championing of the "middle class" and his highly public politicisation of Thai-Chinese origins.

Perhaps the hat is a visual appeal to the communal memory, an attempt to communicate fellow-feeling through visual symbols now that words are too cheap and actions too dangerous, a harking back to some kind of "good old days."

And perhaps, however subtle its symbolism and however casually it is worn, the hat is another step in the politics of division.