Yingluck’s return has to be soon, but things can get complicated

In what has become one of Thailand’s most-scrutinised photos of late, ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra sat near a pool apparently reminiscing about something. How he was dressed, how soft medical aids were applied and how “healthy” or how “sick” he looked have been widely studied.

What is left to discuss? It’s the fact that the water in the pool had no ripples. Don’t underestimate it, because if there are no big protests in the next few days and if the social media’s attention turns to something else, the political metaphor generated by that fact can be hugely significant.

Yingluck Shinawatra is counting on the absence of a genuine uproar. There have been expected sarcasm and heated debates in some corners following the release of the Ban Chan Song La photo, but what has followed Thaksin’s resumption of life as a virtually-free man is nowhere near volcanic.

At…