Now, not only are the World, Heaven and Hell confused, the two great enemies - known as Democracy and Corruption - are barely aware themselves who they really are.

Who's who now? Which one of them is dying? Which one is getting back its power? Their fiery exchanges, as both brace themselves for yet another showdown, shed no light on these questions and reveal only one thing: this is very far from over.

Corruption: Now, what are you going to do about it?

Democracy: About what?

Corruption: The protest. The rally that people are planning to mark Constitution Day. They are bemoaning your supposed death. They think the tanks have killed you, not me. What will you do about that?

Democracy: Everyone has the right to peaceful assembly as long as ...

Corruption: ... they don't create trouble or threaten national stability. Yeah, I heard that a thousand times before. Coming from your mouth, it is encouraging, though. Now I guess you've seen the merits of martial law, too, huh?

Democracy: If it can prevent your return, I'm not going to shed a tear over the existence of martial law.

Corruption: Well, well, well. A coup has been condoned and now martial law. What's next? Arresting protesters or even shooting them? I knew you would join the dark side; I'm just amazed at the speed of your transformation.

Democracy: Go on, as if I care. For many years you took advantage of my tolerance, of my decency. You kept pushing my limits. You didn't use ballot boxes to do anything good for my name. All you did was hide behind them while chipping away at my very essence. You fouled me first, so don't cry like a baby now that I have fouled you.

Corruption: You never get it, do you? Has it ever occurred to you that all this is one hell of a clever scheme to provoke you into destroying your own soul?

Democracy: We've gone through this before. It takes one to kill one. I'll be worried about my soul later. I'll fight the tanks later, if you don't manage to consume them.

Corruption: Well, you'd better start working out now. This world abhors military governments for good reasons. In most parts of the world, they are my best pals.

Democracy: You just said I could be your best secret partner.

Corruption: That's true. Look what's happened in Thailand over the last five years. You may be getting it, dear boy. I exist everywhere. I am the real power, and all the political ideologies are just pretenders, and you are one of them. They think they can rule. They think they can get rid of me. Truth is, I can corrupt them all. I can take any ideology and brand it with my name.

Democracy: You've lost in many countries.

Corruption: Don't believe everything Time magazine tells you. You've won some battles, but you're not going to win this war. You're saying I've been defeated in Thailand, but check out what the world thinks. Nobody really knew what actually happened.

Democracy: You consumed me and left the body when the tanks came.

Corruption: Voila! Congratulations!

Democracy: And now you're set to repossess the tanks.

Corruption: Now you got it. I know you hate "Star Wars" quotes but I can't help it: "Luke, I'm your father." How's that?

Democracy: You can't be real.

Corruption: I'm as real as they come. I've been here since the beginning of time. You are just a dream, an imaginary friend of people outside the corridors of power. Your very essence can't handle reality. You couldn't handle Thaksin Shinawatra. You produced a Constitution that he violated, and then was torn apart by the generals. You can't find your own way of expelling him. You don't even know what to call his supporters. You don't know what to do about the upcoming protest, or with martial law. Now, tell me who's not real.

Democracy: Are you saying Evil is truer than God? I will send you to Hell, I swear.

Corruption: Don't bother. I'll take you on a tour, because it's where I came from. Now, after all the assets and tax investigations, let's see if you're ready for the next round.

And World, Heaven and Hell continue to hold their breath...

Tulsathit Taptim