Like the PM, sport columnist Buranij Rattanavichien keeps choosing words that are bound to get him in trouble

Popular football writer Buranij "Bor Boo" Rattanavichien's life is a lot like a football match - or at least a blizzard of yellow and red cards.

The columnist at the Star Soccer daily recently published his autobiography, "Bor Boo…Who are You?", and it's a litany of ups and downs, shared in straightforward and often witty language.

Student life was fistfights and other nasty behaviour. He's been suspended at his newspaper, he's been banned from radio several times, and Channel 7 threw him off its World Cup 2006 coverage.

This sort of stuff and his status as one of the country's favourite sport columnists has ensured his book a spot on the best-seller lists.

Bor Boo's boss at Siam Sport Publishing didn't know what a character he had on the payroll until he saw Sorrayuth Suthassanajinda interview him on TV. He urged him to write the book.

"I started writing in March last year, but it took me a long time to remember everything that's happened!" he says.

Sport and politics mix

It's his sharp tongue and sarcasm that keep getting him in trouble. Unlike most football pundits, he always brings up politics and social issues - and fans love him for that.

He's not his own biggest fan, though.

"Of all the stuff I do, TV is the easiest," he says. "I can do it quite naturally. Writing is something I don't like because I have to write a column every single day, and there are days when I'm so dissatisfied with the quality that I refuse to read it when it's published.

"My dream is to be a football commentator. I keep saying this, but no one gives me a chance!"

Bor Boo has seen younger colleagues like Adisorn "Jackie" Puengya and Sathit "Big Ja" Kreekul move on to TV, and the late Ekkachai Nopjinda was his original inspiration to write about the sport.

Ekkachai wrote about sport under the name Yor Yong and went on to become Thailand's most celebrated football commentator. Bor Boo just wants to be the new Yor Yong.

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Before Bor Boo

>> Buranij originally used the pseudonym Jom Yuth Luk Nang, and then switched to just Buranij, but he's been Bor Boo for almost a decade.