The future prime minister plays it coy

Tant told Nation TV last week she has no one special in her life and will “probably use this same surname for a long while yet”. She’d switched to Kridakorn from her family name Bhirombakdi in the hope of averting any possible blowback against the clan’s brewery business and said she’s getting used to the new moniker. “But I still need more practise signing my name!”

While the People’s Democratic Reform Committee remained steadfastly in place on Valentine’s Day on Friday, albeit playing up the love angle with a “Rak Prathet Thai” campaign, Tant made the rounds of the rally sites. Asked about her fashion sense, which has earned a lot of praise, she said she has no particular style actually, but since joining the protests has had to stick to clothes that are comfortable and allow freedom of movement. 

“You’ve been photographed a lot during the rally – which photo do you like most?” Nation TV’s Noppatjak Attanon asked. Tant said her favourite remains the one showing her riding a truck while the protest moved to the Defence Ministry. 

Would she like to be prime minister? Tant said that remains her dream, but she must work hard and gain more experience first. “People look at me and might decide I’m a new face in politics, but I’ve actually been involved in politics since I was young. I got a lot of training during my university days.” 

 

Bank skips the nuptials

Wedding planners cringed the other day when Preeti “Bank” baramee-anant, former lead singer of the rock band Clash, said he didn’t feel marriage is really important. And this comes from a guy who’s been engaged to Krittiya “NiNew” Chiyarat for a decade. There’ll be no wedding anytime in the near future, he said, not even in another four or five years. 

And as for his eventual wedding being a major event on the social calendar, “I think having a grand wedding party is just a waste of money. It would be better to keep that money for my kids!” (Bank is indeed looking forward to having a brace of kids.)

NiNew’s mother “isn’t serious” about the kids getting hitched, he says. “She’s rather Western in style and even says we should have a grandchild for her first. I told her to take it easy! As for my dad, he’d not rushing anything either. We’ve all become like a big family already anyway.” 

To Cupid’s invitation to define “love”, Bank said it’s certainly not “marriage”. To him it’s about trust, patience, sacrifice and respect. “But your great love is now supposedly proved by a big wedding!”

Surely he’s giving NiNew a token of his esteem for Valentine’s Day? “No present, because I’ve given her all of my life. Everything is the same as we pass the decade mark as it was when we began, and nothing could be sweeter than this. We’re more like relatives now.”

How, uh, romantic.