What do the Senate and Preah Vihear have in common? We Thais are really, really passionate about both of them. We are ready to go to war to defend them. We wake up at night in a cold sweat at the idea of anyone messing with our senators or Khmer temples. The problem is, we’re so intense about both, we get them mixed up sometimes. Here’s a pop quiz to test your memory:

 

1. Which of these places is the most dangerous?

a. Senator Boonsong Kowawisarat’s dinner table, where he unloaded a 9mm uzi pistol into his ex-wife and secretary. The Senate voted 94-2 to maintain his immunity. 

b. Preah Vihear.

 

2. Which building did Si Sa Ket Senator Jitipot Viriyaroj regret seeing torn to pieces by a bunch of judges who couldn’t care less?

a. Thailand Supreme Court’s heritage art deco buildings, which were set to be replaced by much taller, and uglier, buildings infringing local height restrictions.

b. Preah Vihear.

 

3. Which of these was recently ravaged by the horrors of an aerial raid?

a. The Thai senate, as Air Vice Marshal Chalermchai Krue-ngarm called it a “slave Senate” then refused to take his insult back, causing hurt feelings and blocking the amnesty debate as senators waited for an apology, sulked and sobbed.

b. Preah Vihear.

 

4. Senator Pinyo Sai-Nui, a representative of Krabi Province, was caught looking at pictures on his iPhone during a senate session. The pictures were of:

a. A girl exposing her genitalia, whom he later described as “his niece,” with the promise of further explanations in a press conference, which never happened.

b. Preah Vihear.

 

5. Which of these has been dated to the 11-12th century AD?

a. The ideas of Senator Lt. Col. Kamol Prachuabmoh, who said “I don't think they can take care of themselves,” when asked about the public electing their own senators.

b. Preah Vihear.

 

Answers in the country's next constitutional amendment!

 

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