In January Thaksin complained about the realignment of the stars that went against his duang, or fortune. Mercury moved backwards while Saturn came in between to overshadow his personal star. Rumours that his family was selling off Shin Corp were swirling, an issue that weighed heavily in his mind.

Following a recommendation from Newin Chidchob, Thaksin went in January to At-Samat, one of the poorest districts in the northeastern province of Roi Et, to stage a TV reality show for seven days. Thaksin wanted to show his grassroots supporters that a billionaire could eat, sleep and live a frugal life like them.

However, Thaksin's real intention behind the At-Samat model of poverty reduction was to find an answer to his dwindling fortune. He had to be banished from his comfortable home, his family and those he loved most to face the hardship alone. This banishment was an act of self-punishment.

Make no mistake about the name of At-Samat, which literally means "courage with ability". Thaksin needed all the auspicious symbols he could find to prop up his sagging fortune. He would re-empower himself from the harsh environment. The bed and the mosquito net were precisely arranged according to the principles of feng shui, or the order of the universe.

While he was telling the At-Samat crowds how to escape poverty, the Shin Corp deal with Temasek Holdings of Singapore was being executed with the precision of a mathematical formula. It was a perfect  deal worth Bt73 billion.

On January 23, when the deal was announced, the dam broke. Intellectuals and the critics came out one by one to denounce Thaksin for "selling off Thailand to Singapore". His legitimacy as a leader evaporated quickly. Thaksin's fortune crashed like a falling star. It is evident that Thaksin's banishment to At-Samat failed to divert his karma.

But the falling star was not completely dead yet. Only a miracle and the supernatural powers could save Thaksin. He laid his back against the rope while the criticism grew even louder. A month later on February 24, he decided to dissolve Parliament and called a snap election on April 4. This gave the People's Alliance for Democracy fresh ammunition to attack him.

March would be the worst month of his fortune. If he could survive the first half of this year, his star would shine ever brighter. But along the way there were thorns, nails and spikes everywhere.

On March 3, Thaksin launched his first official campaign at Sanam Luang to make a political comeback. Thaksin told hundreds of thousands of his supporters, brought in from the provinces, that he had never had ill intentions for the country or committed any grave mistake.

He turned his fate over to the City Pillar and the Emerald Buddha and swore that if he had committed any violations, he would be ready to face any fate.

The City Pillar and the Emerald Buddha are objects of worship. In 1782, King Rama I had the City Pillar laid in front of the Royal Palace during the construction of Bangkok as the new capital. He also had the Emerald Buddha, which he took from Vientiane during one of his campaigns there, placed at the Temple of the Emerald Buddha inside the Royal Palace. The Emerald Buddha is Thailand's most sacred Buddha statue, the symbol of Thais' spiritual and religious inspiration.

After his oath, Thaksin started a new chapter in his peripatetic life. He left the capital, which had been taken over by the "peaceful riots". Over the past three weeks, he has spent most of his time in the provinces trying to win support. His strategy is to sweep the provinces before reclaiming Bangkok.

Some of the routes he travelled were similar to those of King Taksin the Great, who gathered all the feudal states under one Kingdom before founding Thon Buri as the new capital of Siam after the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767.

Thaksin went to Chon Buri, Chanthaburi and Trat in the East. During his early campaigns, Phra Chao Tak, born from a Chinese family, also sought food and other logistical support from the Chinese people who settled in Chon Buri, Chanthaburi and Trat. Thaksin paid respect to the statue of King Taksin the Great in Chanthaburi.

In Suphan Buri, he also worshipped the statue of King Naresuan the Great. He was drawing back his lost power.

 But the grand ritual was waiting for him in Buri Ram. Newin Chidchob, now a darling of Thaksin, arranged for him a Khmer-inspired ritual to jump-start Thaksin's dying political battery. We do not have any details about the Khmer voodoo. But Thaksin did take a ride on an elephant, as if he were about to go into battle in ancient times. Newin accompanied Thaksin on foot as his military strongman.

After the Buri Ram trip, Thaksin was rather pleased. But on Tuesday, while campaigning in Chiang Rai, Thaksin was shocked when he learned that a man with a record of mental illness used a hammer to destroy the Brahma statue at the Erawan Shrine.

However, on that day, he went abroad by crossing over the border through Tachilek into the Burmese territory. His self-banishment was completed. On Wednesday, Thaksin rushed back to Bangkok to pay a visit to the Erawan Shrine to offer prayers to the damaged statue of Thao Maha Phrom. Thaksin also released nine caged birds as a merit-making gesture.

The talk of the town was that a high-ranking politician has linked his duang at the base of the Phra Phrom at Government House and at the Erawan Shrine. So every time the people prayed to the Phra Phrom, his life would be lengthened and his power would become stronger.

But Sondhi Limthongkul has another theory. He said a politician wanted to destroy Thao Maha Phrom so that he could rebuild it by himself and then bury "his stuff" in the statue. This would be a way to avert the politician's ill omens, Sondhi claimed.

Khunying Pojaman Shinawatra yesterday presided over a ritual to establish a Phra Phum House at the headquarters of the Thai Rak Thai Party.

She and her husband were waiting patiently for the ill fortune to hit rock bottom during this period before the good fortune started to settle in after the April 2 election.

Quietly, Thaksin sneaked into Government House yesterday while the protesters remained complacent elsewhere. The timing of his arrival to reclaim his commanding position was exactly 9.19am!

From now until April 2 and beyond, the dark force of witchcraft and wizardry will hold sway in Thai politics.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation