samakint1 Lyrics

Like Bangkok Post columnist Atiya Achakulwisut, I once met Samak Sundaravej - in Heathrow Airport in London, I believe it was. I recognised him immediately and introduced myself in Thai. He was polite, but not particulary talkative on that occasion. Maybe I should have asked to interview him. That is what Atiya did and she gained some interesting insights into his background and character as a result.

nsight - a chance to understand something or learn more about it เข้าใจอย่างทะลุปรุโปร่ง

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Interview with Samak, years ago
Atiya Achakulwisut

I interviewed Samak Sundaravej, the new prime minister, once. It was almost exactly 10 years ago. We spent 3-4 hours going over his childhood (only). He did the talking most of the time (sorry, that is not news). I got to ask but one question.

I was a reporter with Outlook then. A few of us were discussing whether it is true that people hardly change and that we should know what kind of person one is if we had a chance to see him or her during childhood. There must be a badly behaved boy (or some sign of it) in a badly behaved man, or vice versa.

And someone blurted out: how about Samak? Should we explore what kind of boy he was, to become the kind of man he is?

At that time, Mr Samak had just returned to the spotlight following the ''cobras'' incident in which 12 members of his Prachakorn Thai party voted against the line to join the Democrat-led coalition. Humiliated, Mr Samak had nothing but condemnation and threats of revenge against the renegades.

And so I was dispatched to try to discover what the young Samak had gone through to turn him into the sharp-tongued, combative and sometimes bitter old man he had become.

The only hint I had was: as a child, Mr Samak was often teased as khunchai hor mok ( little lord hawking hor mok or baked fish paste mixed with chili, coconut milk and sprinkled with finely chopped bergamot leaves.)

''That was stupid. I never sold hor mok,'' Mr Samak quickly retorted to the only question I managed to ask during the hours I spent with him. He blamed it on journalists who spread the wrong information.

''I sold Thai-style desserts my mother made,'' he said.

Although Mr Samak's father was a high-ranking officer, he was not born into money.

''My parents had social status and prestige but very little money to maintain it. We did not have a house of our own. We lived in rented houses, and I remember moving as many as 20 times during my childhood.''

To his credit, Mr Samak was on time and did not make such a great fuss about his coming and going, unlike many high-profile politicians. He gave out a lot of information to make sure that I had enough to do a decent job. He was attentive to the topic being discussed. He obviously was a master of the Thai language. He could fluently recite long (I mean long) verses of Thai poetry off the top of his head.

To his failing, he does talk a lot and as such does not tend to have time to listen. If he decides to believe in something, it looks nearly impossible to: first, penetrate his non-stop argument, second, try to raise yours to convince him otherwise.

vice versa - the opposite ตรงกันข้าม
blurted out - said suddenly and without thinking, usually out of excitement or anxiety พูดออกมาอย่างไม่ยั้งคิด
spotlight - the centre of public attention
coalition เป็นจุดสนใจ
humiliated - feeling very embarrassed and ashamed รู้สึกอับอาย
condemnation - a public statement in which someone criticises someone or something severely การประนาม สาบแช่ง
revenge - punishing someone who has harmed you แก้แค้น
renegades - people who leave a group and join another พวกทรยศ
dispatched - sent ส่งออกไป
sharp-tongued - tending to criticise people and to speak to them in a cruel or angry way ปากร้าย ช่างวิจารณ์
combative - ready to argue, fight with or oppose someone ชอบต่อสู้ พร้อมต่อสู้
bitter - feeling angry or upset แค้นเคือง
hint - a sign that something exists สัญญาบ่งบอก
hawking - selling goods in the streets ร้องเร่ขายของ (ตามถนน)
retorted - replied immediately in an angry or humorous way ตอบโต้ทันทีทันควันด้วยความโกรธ
desserts - sweet foods that you each after a main meal ของหวาน
social status - social position, in this case, a high social position สถานภาพทางสังคม
prestige - the high reputation and respect that someone or something has earned based on their impressive achievements, quality, etc. ที่สูงส่ง
maintain - to keep up; to keep in good condition รักษาสถานภาพ
fuss - a lot of unnecessary excitement or worry about something เรื่องหยุมหยิม เรื่องทุกข์ร้อน
high-profile - getting a lot of public attention มีชื่อเสียงมาก
decent - good or good enough ที่ดีงาม
fluently - spoken well and without difficulty คล่องแคล่ว
recite - to say a poem or story that you have learnt to an audience อ่าน ท่อง (โคลงกลอน) ให้ผู้อื่นฟัง
off the top of his head - immediately, without any advanced preparation ทันทีทันใด
penetrate - to get inside or through มองออก มองทะลุปรุโปร่ง

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