Published on November 1, 2007

Banharn Silapa-archa finally gave the nation his "big surprise" on Monday, when he greeted Mahachon Party leader Sanan Kachornprasart and 15 members of his party at the Chat Thai headquarters.

So, how did these two leaders greet each other? Well, it depends on which angle you caught. Some saw them rubbing cheeks; others said they were kissing. However, most believed it was just a bit of play-acting by two old men.

And just like everyone else who was feeling the touch of winter's love, Sanan decided to speak from his heart and tell a secret that even former prime minister Chuan Leekpai had no idea about when Sanan was served him at the Democrat Party a decade ago.

"I want to work with Banharn because he is No 1 in my heart," Sanan said, insisting that they've had a "smooth" relationship for 30 years now.

What a brilliant confession!

At least this "big surprise", which has been annoying reporters for quite a while now, has finally been revealed.

Early in September, Banharn had political observers believing his Chat Thai Party would be a favourite contender in the upcoming election and stand right up there with the other two titans - the People Power Party and the Democrats. Then he told reporters to wait a couple of days to hear his big surprise.

A naive observer speculated that the big surprise might be Supachai Panitchpakdi, now head of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, agreeing to join Chat Thai. While a hardcore political analyst believed the surprise was junta leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin would replace Banharn as the new Chat Thai leader.

But when the time came, Banharn's real surprise was that Snoh Thienthong had turned down his invitation to join Chat Thai at the very last minute.

Still, a colleague of Mr ONE said this turn of events was hardly a surprise.

"So what if Snoh is not joining Chat Thai? The country is going bankrupt anyway," he said.

Well, at least he was brave enough to speak the truth.

After all, Banharn's "big surprise" was just a matter of senior citizens playing politics - yet again.

The Nation