Published on January 31, 2005

With the election just six days away, no candidate can afford to waste a single minute doing anything but getting out his or her message.

The Democrats’ Korn Chatikavanij is among those scrambling for every possible vote.

Anyone who knew him before he joined politics can see he’s totally changed.

As chief of JP Morgan Chase (Thailand), he wore only well-cut suits and spent most of his time in air-conditioned offices. Now he’s out pressing the flesh among the markets of the Yan Nawa-Sathorn constituency, working up a sweat convincing voters he’s right for the job.

His dedication is apparent in the number of hours he’s on the go, and as proof, he fell asleep at a roadside coffee shop during a campaign trek.

Korn appears to be exactly what he claims to be in his leaflets: part of the new generation trying to maintain a political system with proper checks and balances and a fair economic structure. The well-made leaflet features all the reasons he should be elected.

First, he’s lived in the constituency and thus knows the problems.

Second, he has an outstanding career record. At 38, he is head of a local arm of the second-largest US investment bank.

He has an outstanding education. As a Democrat, he can coordinate with city politicians from the same party.

He has the backing of Charoen Kanthawong, who served many terms as MP for the constituency.

He is a key member of the Democrat economic team.

And last but not least, he is married and the head of his family.

“He thus understands voters’ demands in terms of education and child protection, as well as the quality of life,” the leaflet says.

This last bit might make single voters choke on their coffee – the connotation could be that married people understand some issues better than singles.

And since the number of single voters is rising, that little dig could shift votes to his main rival, popular actor Danuporn Punnakan.

Let’s see what happens next Sunday.

achara_d@nationgroup.com

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