It was a slip of the tongue, surely a subconscious admission. The children have been used as nominees or a front. The statement confirmed that he had been in control of the stocks despite his earlier denials that he was involved in Shin Corp’s management and its future.

This is the latest evidence of his true ownership of Shin Corp. If it causes trouble in any kind of legal proceedings, he is expected to come up with some lame excuse with the belief that the public will be naive enough to fall for it.

Yesterday Thaksin came up with another twist in his weekly radio talkshow, defending the deal after more shady aspects were dug up and more doubts were raised over his role. This time he flip flopped back to a claim of innocence. “I had no involvement in the deal. It was all decided by my children, who have come of age.”

For Thaksin, it seems easy or even natural to say something one day and then shift to something directly opposite the next, not caring about the public’s perception about his credibility and honesty when making the statements. On the same issue, he could say one thing to please a cheering crowd and make a u-turn to argue with his critics.

Massive corruption, widespread cronyism and abuses of power have been the hallmarks of the Thaksin administration. New highlights are his credibility problems and the erosion of moral integrity as he continues in his role as a national leader.

Thaksin stands firm on the issue of his legitimacy and the public mandate given him by 19 million voters, arguing that he should be allowed to serve his full second term. Critics shoot back that the voters elected him to public office to serve the country, not personal or vested family interests.

Credibility problems will continue to haunt him from now on as the opposition and muckrakers try hard to expose the complex Shin Corp deal, which now involves nominee and dummy firms abroad, including in the British Virgin Islands.

It is ironic to see that a man worth over Bt100 billion has problems convincing the people to believe what he has to say. Thaksin does not seem to care much as long as he still has large enough following among grassroots people who have become used to his handouts and freebies under populist programmes.

He looked genuinely pleased by the stream of people showering him with roses at Government House before the weekend. His underlings and cronies worked hard to ask provincial governors and MPs to organise admirers for a rally to tell Thaksin what he wants to hear.

Our political history shows that whenever a tyrant has sensed that a downfall was imminent – due to corruption, public pressure or failure to perform in office – there was a need for morale boosting with a stage-managed supporting crowd.

The huge public demonstration at the Royal Plaza on February 4 must have been unnerving to a certain extent, but if Thaksin was shaken by the growing protest, he did not show it. His bravado retains its stratospheric magnitude as always.

The protest that tried to chase him out of office yesterday had broad support from lecturers and academics, but more weight was given to participation by university students almost nationwide. This was a significant new dimension in the anti-Thaksin movements because students have been politically inactive for over a decade.

Street protests and demonstrations might not be able to unseat Thaksin, but he will gradually lose credibility and the public’s faith, especially as those set against him are urban and fairly educated people, making him look less savoury as a national leader.

If the anti-Thaksin movements gain forceful momentum, he will have difficulty pushing his policies through, especially those mega-projects that are seeking multi-billion baht investments from international corporations. The groundswell of discontent towards Thaksin must have investors wary about the country’s political future.

As more government misdeeds are exposed from now on and the murky Shin Corp deal faces public wrath, Thaksin needs a lot of luck and money to prolong his grip on power. The adversity is real and intimidating.