One of my closest friends, TV drama director Nukul Boon-iam, is from Pak Chong in Nakhon Ratchasima. His link with rural Thais is as solid as they come, and our gang's favourite weekend pastime used to be spending a night at his ex-girlfriend's parents' home, where her mum cooked great country meals while we listened to Nukul's dirty jokes and took in the priceless paddy field air.
Our local news editor, Chularat Saengpassa, is from the same province. Although her smile is as rare as a free-flowing Liverpool performance this season, she's a great colleague, often coming back from her home visits with tasty treats for co-workers.
Her best friend, business editor Achara Deeboonmee, used to drink the night away with me when we were younger and music and movies were still our top priorities. Achara is from Khon Kaen, the same province as deputy managing editor Patcharee Lueng-uthai, the newsroom's food shelter for all hungry souls, including me from time to time.
No matter how deep their provincial roots, however, these women can never beat managing editor Thanong Khanthong when it comes to "moulding" sticky rice before putting it in his mouth. An Udon Thani native, he often curses in the northeastern dialect when upset about something, and is very compassionate toward less fortunate folks from the same region.
Our political editor, Somroutai Sapsomboon, comes from Lop Buri. A kind, generous and hard-working colleague, she maintains very close provincial links and boasts one of the best connections with NGOs among Thai reporters.
My big boss, Suthichai Yoon, and his younger brother and my mentor, Thepchai Yong, are from Hat Yai. They started off their careers like other ambitious young journalists from upcountry, renting apartments, eating on the roadside, and taking the bus to work.
Talking about going to work, you should have seen Somroutai's clanking Volkswagen before she switched to her current Toyota sedan. And talking about apartments, you should see how Thanong lived when he began his career. It didn't even qualify as an apartment, it was just a small room littered with used clothes and papers. He had a lot of singers and massage girls from Isaan as his neighbours.
Last but not least, we come to Acharaporn Meeyaep. Probably the most important person in my family, because she's been taking care of my father, "Champ" is a young maid from Surin. She's an amazing example of how one can get smart by simply watching TV news and HBO.
To me, these are the real Bangkok-upcountry bonds. You may argue that I should look "beyond" these people, but I simply can't judge what I can't really see. To me, the "elite" vesus "phrai" issue that is threatening to break our country apart is surreal and political. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to me, the real Thailand is about people like Thanong, Suthichai, Nukul, or, dare I say it, Thaksin Shinawatra, coming to seek opportunities in Bangkok while maintaining unbreakable ties with home.
To me, Thailand has long been about blending, not dividing. Ours has been a country where the rural "poor" look at their status and do not think about "dignity" because they don't think money has anything to do with dignity. Self-pity or self-contempt is expressed in luk thung country songs, with a large pinch of salt, but never with hearts that are filled with hatred.
Where did the accusation about middle class "contempt" for the poor come from? I have read this written by some people who should know better, and it hurts. Let the alleged "insults" and "contempt" continue to be the exclusive weapons of the political animals fighting for power - those who don't know what else to do but to pitch Thais against Thais.
Somebody shouted, "Let's have a class war" and many "sympathisers" of the poor immediately jumped on the bandwagon. A man drove his luxury car into parked red-shirt motorcycles and it was decried as symbolising the travesty in this country. Think carefully and we will see if the man is a product of a real class war, or if he's just, like many of us, a victim of some people's attempts to make the current political problem look like one.
A big political fight is going on out there. The antagonists are employing the only tactic they know, but we must not fall into their trap. America used to hate and be afraid of the Soviet Union, and vice versa, but that is more excusable than Bangkok and provincial Thais starting to feel that way toward each other.
If we reach the frigid state of American-Soviet relations during the Cold War, it will be the greater travesty, because all we need to do to prevent this from happening is to look around.
