From the back seat of a red taxi | Bangkok Post: opinion

COMMENTARY

Last Tuesday evening, after being rejected by the shaking head and waving hands of one cabbie, a second took me in and I was ever appreciative. From Wat Phra Si Maha That temple in Bang Khen to my home in Lumpini, it was to be a long ride, but an educational one. There was silence at first, but after a few minutes the cabbie, an elderly yet robust man, turned on the radio. We caught the last few minutes of a talk show; the topic of discussion was the Bangkok governor race.

One caller lambasted the Democrat candidate as a corrupt member of the elite who knows nothing and does nothing. Another caller lamented on how her son, and others like him who live and work in Bangkok but are not residents of the capital could not vote - otherwise the Pheu Thai candidate would win for sure.

There were a couple livelier and more passionate callers invoking the need to vote Pheu Thai and win Bangkok for the sake of the people and true democracy. The host, also passionate and lively, wrapped up the show by saying Bangkok needs a good man as governor, a true man of democracy, and that man is the Pheu Thai candidate.