His only son Varawut, a former MP for the Chart Thai Pattana Party, has confirmed he will contest the next election.

“I’m waiting for the school [the election] to open and I will become a voice of the people and contribute to the country,” Varawut said in an interview yesterday on Facebook Live with Suthichai Yoon, a digital journalist at Nation Multimedia Group.

Varawut said it was his responsibility to take care of the people of Suphan Buri, the home province and political stronghold of Silpa-archa.

“As my dad’s heir, I’m determined to devote my work for Suphan Buri people like my dad did. I won’t let people say that the legacy was built by the dad but ruined by the son,” he said.

However, he ruled out him becoming party leader. He said the leader should be a person with charisma and potential. The current party leader is Theera Wongsamut.

When asked if he feared failing in politics given his father’s many achievements during his political career, Varawut said he would fight till he died on the political battlefield and never surrender.

He said the legacy his father gave was courage.

Banharn died from asthma on April 23, 2016 at the age of 83. His party faced an uncertain future following his passing.

For decades, Banharn contributed massively to Saphan Buri, a central province, including during the heyday of his career |that led to his premiership in 1995.

Varawut said his father, well known for having run his political party and government as a “long joo” or “big boss” in a Chinese family business, could not be cloned.

To perform and achieve like him, you would need to employ 10 people to do what he did on his own, Varawut said, adding that Banharn did not expect any one individual to carry on his legacy.

In regard to the junta’s attempt to bring about reconciliation in the country, Varawut said he did not want the nation to rush to having a general election if it resulted in another coup.

“We, politicians, want the country to return to democracy at the soonest but it’s useless if a rushed one [election] means going back to square one,” |he said.