'If I were Thaksin I would have first served my jail sentence'

How many miracles can one man benefit from? Sondhi Limthongkul has already had one big break, evidence of which is on display at his Phra Arthit home in the form of blood-stained clothes. He was not supposed to survive that hail of 200 bullets, but he did, with minimum injuries that doctors said were millimetres away from being fatal.

If he was fearless before that gangland-style ambush, political opponents of the man must have good reasons to be afraid the aggressive Sondhi will become suicidal. And if an aggressive Sondhi could occupy Government House for months and have his followers lay siege to Suvarnabhumi Airport, how far will a suicidal Sondhi go?

Relaxed at his office, Baan Phra Arthit, just a few days after being officially named leader of the New Politics Party, Sondhi did not look like someone getting ready for a new rampage. In fact, he showed glimpses of willingness to compromise, even with fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Of course, Thaksin has to come back and take his punishment first, he told The Nation. "I would have done that if I were him," Sondhi said. "I would have served the jail sentence first and then I would fulfil my ambition of running Thailand."

Sondhi claimed the Thaksin camp had once approached him for a political cease-fire, but while Thaksin accepted the first demand about protecting the reputation of the monarchy, the ousted leader balked at the second condition - that he must come back and go to jail first.

That was a long time ago, Sondhi insisted, denying rumours that the setting up of the New Politics Party was being funded by Thaksin in yet another dark conspiracy. "The last time I talked to Thaksin was probably four years ago," he said. "I'm not being sponsored by Thaksin. That's just another rumour, a strategy my opponents are so good at."

He vehemently defended the evolution of the People's Alliance for Democracy into the New Politics Party. This was the first time, he said, that a political party had been born out of a massive political movement. In his view, it is the PAD that "owns" the party, not the other way round.

If surviving the April assassination attempt was the first miracle, the second miracle must be successfully striking a balance between the roles of the PAD, the new party and himself. In theory, it seems possible, albeit highly subtle. Sondhi said the PAD would play by the rules of parliamentary democracy, but would reassert itself only when it came to issues of major national interest.

That is subject to anyone's interpretation. Will the PAD be more peaceful in its future protests, now that its leader has virtually sworn himself to mainstream parliamentary politics? Or will the trademark of relentless aggression still be kept as the movement's last card?

One message seems to stand out from the interview: this will be a more flexible Sondhi rather than a suicidal one. At first, he strongly dismissed the possibility that the New Politics Party would be in the same government as the Pheu Thai Party and Bhum Jai Thai Party, calling such a marriage a "betrayal", but then he softened his stand.

Anything can change, depending on changing circumstances, he said. This brought the interview to one almost taboo issue: his previous statement that you could take a shoe and slap his face with it if he decided to become a politician.

"In fact, I was not talking about becoming a politician. I was talking about accepting a ministerial post, and I'm still holding onto that pledge even now," he said. "My greatest responsibility now is building up this party, and I'm not thinking about anything else."

But things can change, right? Right. Sondhi put it this way: one can make a deal with oneself never to eat beef again, but what if there's nothing left to eat except beef? What if you make a vow to never hurt anyone, but bandits storm into your house one day?

The Democrats will not be pacified by this and, according to Sondhi, deservedly so. "They are a spoiled bunch," he said. "They need to be more sincere, do more homework. It won't be easy for them in the next election and they will no longer enjoy the advantage of fielding anyone who just has a pulse [in the South] and winning the election."