That just shows the extent of his influence, the ultra conservatives had him in prison and yet he still managed to slip through their fingers, he is virtually untouchable, he is a danger to the military machine and they know it, he is an uncontrollable maverick, a survivor with his fingers in every pie. The ordinary Thai has no influence, the last elections showed how much the elite from every spectrum disdain public opinion which is why I doubt that the MFP or peoples party will ever change anything, look at the UK, over 150 years of working class struggle and the elite still hold power, land, the media, capital and the means of production are still in their hands, changing political parties changes nothing. How right Mark Twain was when he said, "If elections could change anything they wouldn't be allowed"