Hearthrob Politician

This week's election of a good-looking and suave fellow, Mr. Abhisit Vejjajiva, to be Thailand's prime minister makes me flash back to a newsroom meeting that happened about ten years ago when I was managing editor of a daily newspaper.

Our ace reporter was a lively young lady (let's call her Ying) who always got the toughest assignments because she was fearless, honest, and relentlessly inquisitive - traits that only the best journalists have.

Ying once told me how she felt when I sent her to cover a major international event where reporters from many parts of the world fielded questions in an auditorium with several hundred people. Ying said, "At first I was so timid and mousey, but then I couldn't stand it anymore and so I asked tough questions."

Ying later joined a world-class international business daily with headquarters in Hong Kong, and one day she surprised me by confiding that that she had fallen in love with a senior Western diplomat in Bangkok and they were about to get married.

Sadly, I have lost contact with her since then.

So back to the newsroom ten years ago. I go around the conference table to query each reporter, and when I got to Ying I felt that putting her on the assignment to cover the good-looking politician was an exciting decision with potential for the day's lead story.

"What have you got for us, Ying?" I asked.

Ying gave a happy smile and said, " I touched him! I touched him!"

Here's the object of Ying's infatuation: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

.

Photo location: Baan Tak Fah, Nakorn Sawan province