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Published on November 17, 2007

The pair used to be cosy friends. But now they're bitter foes.

Her name is Leena Jangjanya and she wants to run in Bangkok for a House seat under the banner of Prachai's Matchima Thipataya Party.

The problem is that her name was dropped on the eve of the first registration day for party-list candidates on November 7. In other words, she was sacked from running in Bangkok's Constituency 7 without any reason. Prachai could do this to other women but not to Leena, known as a fighter for women's rights. She's giving him a lesson that he'll never forget.

After learning she was kicked off the list, Leena headed for the Thai-Japan Youth Welfare Centre, the venue for candidate registration in Bangkok. She was there since dawn and, certainly, before Prachai arrived.

Standing among her noisy supporters holding up banners and her pictures, she cried for justice and called Prachai a liar for betraying her. When Prachai showed up, question after question on Leena's call for justice was drilled into his mind rather than "good news" about his newly launched party.

Prachai refused to clarify the Leena issue, saying it was not a big deal. But it was bad enough for him, whose first run in politics was overshadowed by the Leena strike. The story does not end there, though.

On Monday, the first day for registering constituent MP candidates, Leena "ambushed" Prachai once again in her style. She arrived at the Youth Welfare Centre at dawn and gave interviews to reporters, claiming she would file a Bt1-billion lawsuit against the party leader.

Prachai looked uncomfortable when reporters greeted him with questions about Leena's legal threat.

It was not surprising to see Leena dominant over Matchima Thipataya in the headlines of print and broadcast media across the country. She looks to be such a terrible pest that Prachai wants to hold a religious rite to exorcise "bad luck" from himself and his party. Maybe he thinks his life is in danger.

Mr ONE has one suggestion for Prachai. He should hire bodyguards. Next time, Leena might get closer to him.

Mr ONE

The Nation