The visit by Thai Rak Thai Party's caretaker leader Chaturon Chaisang to the Northeast early this week has political significance.

He appears to be the first politician to have openly challenged the Council for National Security's (CNS) ban on political meetings and activities.

Why did he dare to challenge the junta?

Firstly, Thai Rak Thai appears to feel it has been on the receiving end of political aggression since the coup last September - and they have not counter-attacked.

Since the Thai Rak Thai government was overthrown by the military, they have often been hit by the coup makers, a party source said.

But the last straw for Chaturon and the party was when CNS chairman General Sonthi Boonyaratglin made remarks early this month about Thai Rak Thai's future.

Sonthi said that Thai Rak Thai politicians were being demoralised in light of the possible party dissolution and that political normalcy should resume once they could adopt a new party's banner. The party situation was in disarray from its former MPs leaving and looking for new parties as the Constitution Tribunal was hearing electoral-fraud cases against Thai Rak Thai, said the general.

In the wake of Sonthi's remarks, Suwat Liptapanlop's Lam Ta Kong faction announced its decision to abandon the party on his birthday and to form a new group called the "Path of Reconciliation".

Chaturon angrily responded to the junta chief and countered suddenly by urging people not to cooperate with the CNS. However, there was no CNS response or action towards Chaturon.

The second reason is that Chaturon and Thai Rak Thai want to seek support from voters. Since the party has faced the Constitution Tribunal case that could lead to its dissolution, they have not yet explained the situation to party supporters. And, as more and more former MPs are resigning from the party, they are afraid they could lose their constituencies.

The visit shows Thai Rak Thai's mastery in seeking popular support. It not only helps strengthen bonds between party politicians and the electorate, but also reminds voters about the populist policies of the Thai Rak Thai government, of which some projects have been renamed by the current administration.

And the final reason is that many recent polls show the government's popularity has dropped while the CNS has not done much to help improve the situation.

Those reasons appear to have convinced Chaturon that it was the perfect time to visit party supporters. Apparently, he believed it would bring more benefits than adverse effects for him and the party.

Chaturon obviously considered the visit a win-win situation for Thai Rak Thai as he could boost support from the party's electorates, while realising that the junta could not easily take action against him.

Chamlong Krutkhunthod, a key party member, told The Nation the visit was not against the military order as it was a duty of politicians to do so - which was even stated in the interim constitution.

Chaturon avoided breaking the junta announcement by using a megaphone instead of making his speech on stage to the audience.

Meanwhile, the military has not made it clear whether Chaturon's action was in violation of the CNS announcement or not. There has also been no aggressive response towards Chaturon or his party.

Sonthi on Tuesday said Chaturon is a "nice guy and has maturity" but that Chaturon should have taken into consideration national security before doing anything.

Another strategy by Thai Rak Thai is to open a new cable TV station under the name PTV, or People's Television, which will be run by key members Veera Musigapong and Jatuporn Promphan.

Chaturon confirmed that the party's members would resign to run the cable TV company but insisted it was a private business and had nothing to do with the party.

Nonetheless, PTV is expected to serve as a mouthpiece for Thai Rak Thai in countering the junta. The coup makers have asked the mass media to avoid one-sided reports involving deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Although it is against the law to open such a cable TV station without permission from the Public Relations Department (PRD), Thai Rak Thai has an excuse. Recently, the PRD gave the green light to media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, who openly criticised Thai Rak Thai and Thaksin on his banned ASTV station, to broadcast his talk show via the PRD-run Channel 11.

If the state takes no action against Sondhi's ASTV while banning PTV from going on air, the party could accuse the government of double standards.

Having been at a standstill for a long while, Thai Rak Thai's recent moves have shown it is now ready to begin an offensive against its enemies while the CNS appears to remain reserved.

It will be interesting to see which side makes the first false step.

Sucheera Pinijparakarn

The Nation