Thaksin's final day of reckoning looms
With a larger crowd braving the intermittent rains to hear eye-opening exposes at his latest weekly tough talk at Lumpini Park on Friday evening, media macho guy Sondhi Limthongkul gave an unmistakable warning to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra: your day of reckoning is not too far away.
 The Nation
November 20, 2005 - Hidden in Sondhi's speech was the message that Thaksin's widely perceived political strength and invulnerability - judging from his firm control of the armed forces, police and bureaucracy, plus a strong grassroots following upcountry - could be just a myth after all.
Sondhi had good reason to believe this just by looking at the crowd of an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 that turned up to hear him. He asked for 200,000 to turn up next Friday if possible. If that figure sounds overly optimistic, a crowd of just half that would surely give Thaksin sleepless nights.
Sondhi declared that if a crowd of 200,000 people turns up on Friday, it should really give Thaksin reason to seriously consider and sensibly respond to his charges of corruption and a wide range of misdeeds in the government.
Sondhi has become the man to watch, a formidable challenger to Thaksin's rule. Under the heavy-handed measures of the past four years, it has been quite difficult for any politician or public figure to bring several thousand people together for a rally. The bigger and bigger turnouts have given rise to the term "the Sondhi phenomenon".
It's not only in Bangkok that people have become disillusioned with Thaksinomics, blatant corruption and rampant cronyism. Rural folks listening to Sondhi's tales of political corruption and abuse of power are beginning to form negative opinions about the national leader.
Gradually disappearing is the image of the man known so far as a benevolent political idol who takes the plight of poor people to heart. What the disillusioned people see now is a smooth talker whose charm should be viewed with suspicion, if not mistrust.
The weekly public onslaughts over corruption charges and malfeasance, the nerve centre of the Sondhi phenomenon, are filling Thaksin and his cronies with grave concern over the stability of their power and longevity of the government. What's more, they have yet to find an ppropriate response or offer counter measures.
The accusations have been met with either dead silence or lame explanations. Thaksin does not want to do it himself. Instead he has assigned cronies to deal with the hot issues, despite their flimsy credibility. Ineffectual eloquence and the courage to produce more lies are their overused weapons.
What Thaksin could do is hurl more expensive libel suits and criminal charges against Sondhi as a deterrent, followed by a court restraining order targeting his antagonist to refrain from causing more damage to his name. Sondhi is unfazed and continues to open more wounds and inflict new injuries to Thaksin's credibility and image.
Sondhi has been highly effective in his strategy, also using his articulate presentation and eloquence to drive the crowd into a frenzy and create anti-government sentiment. The crowd is not the paid type usually herded and seduced by the power of money to give a false impression at political campaign sites.
The growing crowd shares the same desire: challenging Thaksin's political power. Their numbers are a rude awakening for Thai Rak Thai people, who once cherished the notion that their boss was invincible because he controls the financial lifeline to rural areas.
Such confidence is gravely misplaced. Harassment and stern warnings from certain military generals directed at Sondhi for his frequent reference to the monarchy are no longer taken seriously.
Thailand's history shows that authoritarian rulers resorting to cracking down on dissenters and pro-democracy movements are no match for the people's power.
Thaksin might have realised his weakness - that he never heeds alternative advice while relying on the hunches and instincts of his headstrong wife. His teams of advisers and cronies know well that untimely or wrong advice can lead to the end of their careers.
His wife and members of his inner circle will have to come up with counter strategies quickly, before next Friday, if possible. If they cannot stop Sondhi and he draws an even larger crowd, there will be hell to pay for Thaksin and his political future will be in grave doubt as well.
It's a sure bet that the embattled politician-cum-billionaire has never studied how to retreat or make a counter-move. He is more familiar with aggressive and offensive strategies - and creating a broad array of enemies through the arrogance of power.
The public does not expect a compromise or reconciliation between the two gladiators. A body must be dragged around the arena to satisfy their respective supporters. The public has a clear idea of the eventuality if the present trend continues on its course - barring any dirty tricks or foul play, of course.
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