No kidding? Next prime minister of Thailand

Lilly made her political debut at the anti-amnesty rally at the Democracy Monument and drew loud cheers, just as she routinely does with her eager language students in class. “A friend of mine asked if I wasn’t afraid of the consequences of speaking out in public,” she told the crowd. “I said, ‘If you don’t have the guts, just stay in the kitchen.’” 

Kru Lilly capitalised admirably on the fact that she’s openly gay with a sweet and funny speech that everyone found quite entertaining. “People might accuse me of being her because of the Democrat Party, but let me tell you, I’m here for my country!”

Punchline alert. 

“There’s only one reason I’m here for the party – because I’m Abhisit’s wife!” The crowd erupted in laughter. Democrat leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and his wife were not immediately available for comment.

Lilly’s fascinating teaching style shone through onstage, her newborn activism salted with humour and a sure command of the language. Toward the end she said it had been fun and she might consider entering politics. “I discussed it with Seri Wongmontha,” she said, referring to the previous speaker, “and we’re thinking of founding a Pheu Toey Party.” That’s an abbreviation of katoey, and thus “the Gay Party”. 

“It would eliminate divisions based on colours. We’ll have purple as our colour and our slogan would be ‘There will never be an overpopulation problem again’.”

Someone shouted out that Kru Lilly should teach Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra how to speak Thai. “Oh, no,” Lilly replied. “I think she reads Thai okay now.” Another roar. “I think I’d rather teach her speechwriters. If you write speeches for someone, you must instil their character in the text. It’s not right when you have one personality doing the writing and another personality doing the reading.”

Getting even more serious, Lily said she was obliged to do her duty. “If you’re a teacher and you don’t teach morality, what use are you as a teacher?” Then came a lesson for all in Thai. She explained that the word nirathossakam (amnesty) links to naerakhun (ungrateful) and naerates (expel from the country). 

The syllabus abruptly filled the social media along with Lily’s great gags and a wave of compliments. Everyone wants to hear from her again soon. “I want more and I’m waiting. Superb, Kru Lily,” wrote Rakjing Apaisameo. “When are you going to come to the stage again? How about this Saturday and Sunday?” asked Nokkapood Jubjub. 

Twitter and Facebook were awash in upturned thumbs. “I love Kru Lily,” Ryn_write tweeted. “You are the future of clean politics,” Pianchai Ongsritragul posted.