Nakhonratchasima, Thailand:  With the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej in the driver'''s seat -- albeit on a very bumpy road to date -- questions are being raised frequently about the legitimacy of the ruling People Power Party, which won elections as a proxy for the banned Thai Rak Thai party of Thaksin Shinawatra.

Western observers have frequently lauded Thailand's so-called democratic elections on the one hand, and been amazed, on the other, by the plethora of coups that take place in the Land of Smiles, as well as by the number of constitutions that the country has conjured since 1932, when Siam became a constitutional monarchy.

Thailand has often been called the Land of Illusion. The political sphere is no exception, and yet, surely there must be something unique, something telltale, that will reveal to foreign political strategists and investors what it is that ails Thailand and just how stable a particular elected government is at a particular place in time -- such as the PPP here and now.

The city of Nakhonratchasima, during November 2006 parliamentary elections, was bound by law not to play favorites, but that did not stop it from plainly advocating that Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai was the right choice to make. The city's banner atop a community building used to instruct people on how to vote was accompanied by a TRT logo. No other party logos were in evidence. Outside the center several TRT vehicles were parked and TRT backers and musclemen were milling about. This one-sided campaign was overseen by former Nakhonratchasima major Dr. Cherdchai Chokerattanachai, who had earlier told this writer, "Our elections will be democratic."

Nakhonratchasima, also known as Korat, is Thailand's second largest city and located in the country's largest province. Known as the Gateway Province, it links Bangkok with the nineteen provinces of Thailand's northeast region by air, rail and car. Its central location lets Korat see most of the political glamour of Bangkok and also feel the pain of unfulfilled political promi