How's the Abhisit-Thaksin race on Twitter faring?

The last time I checked (at 9.20 am today), Abhisit Vejjajiva and Thaksin Shinnawatr were still fighting for new followers on their Twitter accounts. Thaksin was ahead with 6,511 with Abhisit trailing with 4,923. Interestingly enough, Abhisit seems to be following other people much more than Thaksin. Abhisit was following 1,801 other people while Thaksin had only 3 he was interested in following.

In the Mr Twitter "contest" though, Abhisit was enjoying a far greater lead than Thaksin.

Bear in mind, of course, that neither Abhisit nor Thaksin is sitting in front of the computer or holding a mobile phone to update their Tweets. They each have their respective staff handling their Twitter accounts.

So what you read is all that "nominee" stuff again!

Abhisit-Thaksin "Twitter war" still a long way off...

A Twitter war between Thaksin and Abhisit?

If you are waiting for that big Twitter-Facebook battle between the two, be prepared
for some disappointment.

For one thing, the two don't post their own messages. They have their respective staff to handle the social media sites. Thaksin revealed that he read only printouts from Twitter. Abhisit wasn't even sure who had posted the message about his wish that Thaksin would "see Dharma" on his birthday anniversary.

So far, to be frank, their Twitter messages have been rather boring.

Why do birthday anniversaries turn political?

Thaksin Shinawatra's birthday anniversary is this sunday, July 26. Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva's falls on Aug 3. Their respective supporters won't allow them to celebrate quietly with their families. Political activities have become part of the game now.

Thaksin plans a host of activities for tomorrow -- religous bordering on the superstitious bordering on new technology.

Abhisit will use his birthday anniversary to announce the results of his six months in power and plans for the future. In fact, his aides are planning to kick off the celebrations as early as tomorrow to try to blunt Thaksin's birthday's hue and cry.

Abhisit's slogan to be unveiled tomorrow in two book volumes is: "6 Months, 100 Measures, 10 Million Happiness."

Brace yourself for the onslaught.

Turning the begging bowl upside down

I am not sure whether Thaksin Shinawatr himself has got anything to do with it but a "coordinator" of his 60th birthday anniversary celebration on July 26 has said a special religious ceremony will be held to counter all the blck magic initiated against him earlier.

One of the ceremonies will be to reverse the monk's begging bowl from the "bottom up" position (indicating a boycott) to an upright stance to rid of all the "black magic" conducted many years ago by Luangta Maha Bua and Sondhi Limthongkul against Thaksin.

The "big surprise" on that birthday remains a mystery. But a source close to the ceremony says: "It will be a major surprise. The whole world will be asking: How can this happen?"

I can't wait.

Chakkrapob emerges to state his concern that Thaksin may "drown"

Nobody knows for sure where Chakkrapob Penkae is at the moment. But he did "surface" in an article written for the inaugural issue of "Voice of Taksin" that will hit the newsstands on July 26, Thaksin Shinnawatr's 60th birthday anniversary.

Chakkrapob, who is on the run after being hit with a number of severe charges at home, seems concerned that his boss may give up the fight too easily.

"I hope, sir, that as you are trying to swim in the sea, you won't just give up and drown. Who knows, even the sea could dry up one day," he wrote.

He tried to urge Thaksin to fight on, to fulfil the mission left unfinished by Pridi Panomyong who engineered the 1932 revolution that turned Thailand from absolute monarch to constitutional monarchy. What he really meant was unclear. All I know is that Chakkrpob has tried, so far in vain, to raise Thaksin's standards to those of the country's statesman Pridi.

That there is a world of differences between the two doesn't seem to bother Chakkrapob at all.

Sondhi, Chetta and a bowl of noodle

Gen Chetta Thanajaro, former army chief and now a senior member of Thaksin Shinawatr's Pheau Thai Party, says he was once quite close to Sondhi Limthongkul, the target of an assassination attempt. A soldier close to him, Sgt Panya, has been issued an arrest warrant for being a suspected gunman.

Chetta was on FM 100.5 this morning to say that he had a good relations with Sondhi even before he became army chief. "I used to go to his office at Baan Phra Arthit to chat. The noodle dish there was also quite tasty," he said.

He was, of course, indicating that there was no reason at all to suspect his involvement in the failed attempt to get Sondhi killed although he admitted Sgt Panya, one of the suspected gunmen, was working close to him.

"Sgt Panya, as far as I know him, is a quiet and wel-behaved man," Chetta said.

So, he knows both parties concerned but he gave no indications as to whether he knew who was behind the assassination attempt against Sondhi.

But is he ready to head Thaksin's Pheau Thai Party as had been rumoured?

Chetta said: "No. I have my personal obligations. I am not ready to do that."

Thaksin of course is Sondhi's main rival.

If you can't work out the puzzle so far, don't panic. Most people are quite confused too.

Sondhi says he knows the man who wanted to have him killed

Who ordered the assassination of Sondhi Limthongkul?

Sondhi knows who he is. That's according to one of his closest aides, Panthep Puapongpan, who also serves as the spokesman of the People's Alliance for Democracy.

Panthep told Nation Channel this morning that if Sondhi knew the main culprit (not only the alleged hired gunmen (for whom arrest warrants were issued yesterday), then Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva should know too.

That's because the chief investigation officer of this case, Deputy National Police Chief Police Gen Thani Somboonsap, reports directly to he PM, not to his direct boss in the Police Department.

If the premier knew the identity of the main culprit, would he have the guts to remove him immediately? Panthep posed the question and said: "This particular person is a senior man who has a wide network of the military and police officers. Anybody following the news should know what I mean...."