Politics' loss is football's gain
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Getting booted out of politics isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially in a country where you can waltz right back in after your mandatory five years in the wilderness. Newin Chidchob turned his hand to running Buriram Football Club and likes it so much
It looks the same for Warawut “Top” Silapa-archa, the son of former Prime Minister Banharn who was red-carded from politics in 2008 and started developing his team, Suphanburi Football Club. They’re now ranked fourth in the Thai Premier League. “For home games the attendance has more than doubled to 16,000,” he tells Nation Weekender.
And it’s a lucrative gig. “After last season we had stacks of team shirts left unsold, but this season we can’t produce enough to meet the demand,” he says, offering another way of measuring the squad’s success.
Top also has more time for his family thanks to the political ban, a merit echoed by football itself. “Football unites families. Match days are family-gathering days.” He feels healthier as well, having shed 20 kilos. “I have to wear a fitness shirt and it looked bad with my big belly, so I started working out and now I control my diet.”
Too late, Teng
Comedian Pongsak “Teng Terdtheng” Pongsuwan wants everyone to cool down about him telling a Pheu Thai crowd that he too wants to see Thaksin return to Thailand. It’s part of his job to wish the host well “and it didn’t have any political implications”, he says.
And his remark doesn’t mean he’s a fan of the former premier on the lam. “I’ll take any job, I work and I hardly have time for other things. The only colours I go for are on the Thai flag.”
But on Monday Thaksin’s son Panthongtae was waving a red flag at Teng, posting a photo on Facebook of him wearing a half-mask of Teng’s face. He urged other to do likewise to show support for the comedian.
