Once my father passed away, everything changed. When a crisis happens you find out who your true friends are.
I never realized how tiring it was being a spokesman. Basically you have to know everything, and a human cannot know everything.
It’s a balance between saying what you can say, saying what you should say and saying what they want you to say.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is an experience for anyone who is interested in politics or in sharpening their mind.
You see the same things happening over and over again, in international news, local news and so forth. Sometimes we think, living in our little world, that our problems are huge. But look at other people; they have the same problems. If you look closely, the ways of solving problems are basically the same everywhere.
If you have an understanding of the world and its cultures, it makes you a better person.
When Khun Aphisit asked me to join, on one hand I was really happy, but on the other I was reluctant, wondering if I was financially ready, and what would happen if I lost. But I got to a point where I thought, if I’m not ready now, when will I be ready? The opportunity is now.
If you have an opportunity to do something and you know you can do it, you should. Otherwise you will live in regret, and living in regret is much worse than dying doing it.
The best thing a person can have is not money—it’s information.
I’m not a person who lives and dies by the news. When I come home in the evening, I’d rather listen to music.
Whether you’re a spokesman or an international chief, the most important thing is to have fun; otherwise it will become tedious.
I admire Khun Aphisit. He’s the person that pulled me into the politics. For a man to express respect and admiration for another man, it’s not easy.
Politics started to become more important to me in the time of Black May. Before that I just didn’t care. After the protest in the street, the shootings and the cover up, I realized democracy is not something you just take for granted anymore. It’s something you have to cherish.
At the age of 21, I was still young enough to be idealistic and old enough to have my own opinion. I saw people on the street and thought: They don’t have to be here. They could be at home on the sofa watching Ching Roy Ching Lan. But they’re there because they love this country; they love democracy. So I started to feel: What am I doing and why am I doing nothing?
I have nothing to give you except my loyalty, I always tell Khun Aphisit on his birthday. I give that to him wholeheartedly. It sounds gay, but it’s not.
People say you should prepare to be a politician by studying political science. But I know many political scientists who couldn’t be politicians. Political science tells you what you should do; being a politician is what it really is.
I read a quote from President Richard Nixon that helps me understand a lot of things. It says that, to be a leader in this world, you have to see things as they are, not as you want them to be.
