It appears as if Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was wrong in believing that grandmothers in the Northeast to help him establish a stronghold in the region.
Nine months ago, when he was appointed prime minister, Abhisit disclosed that he was engaging with the Northeast populace through Grandma Nium Phanmanee from Ubon Ratchathani, who had given him a ring at an election campaign in August 2007.
Abhisit decided to use the ring as a gimmick to make people in the Northeast believe that he would work for them, as he promised Grandma Nium. Perhaps, Abhisit was hoping to have his presence felt in Isaan, the stronghold of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
For years the ruling Democrat Party has been struggling to get a foothold in the Northeast, and for a short while it appeared as if the grannies were opening the door for them.
Unfortunately, the charm of the ring didn't last too long, because Grandma Nium died shortly after Abhisit took office in December.
Now, nine months later, Abhisit has a new tale to tell with Grandma Hai Khanjantha, also from Ubon Ratchathani, as the lead character.
Grandma or Yai Hai as she is known in Thai has been in the news for a while now, thanks mainly to her three-decade-long battle against the authorities to protect her farm from floods caused by the dam in Na Tal sub-district. In 2004, the Thaksin government had the farm drained and she was made eligible for state compensation.
Abhisit's Cabinet, just recently, allocated Bt4.9 million to compensate Hai and other affected farmers in the area, and though the money could have been transferred electronically, Abhisit decided to use this as a PR opportunity and flew over to Ubon Ratchathani this weekend to hand her the cheque.
Sadly, Grandma Hai didn't turn out to be a lucky charm for him, because her struggle against the government began long before he took office. In fact, her battle began long before Abhisit even became a politician, and people seem to remember that the previous two
Democrat governments had done little to help her.
Now there's a new grandma in the scene, Nheng Yarak, Grandma Nium's daughter in law, who presented Abhisit with another gold ring on Saturday.
However, Abhisit is no longer the "Lord of the Rings" because this latest present has given the opposition a perfect chance to attack him. They allege that accepting anything worth more than Bt3,000 is unconstitutional and it so happens that the latest ring is worth Bt4,200.
So, perhaps the time is up for charming grandmothers in the Northeast and their lucky charms for Abhisit.