Ties between Thaksin Shinawatra and Pallop Pinmanee date back more than two decades. This changed abruptly within hours after the discovery of a car laden with explosives near the prime minister's residence yesterday morning.

Thaksin had appeared willing to tolerate Pallop's quirks and failures, including his botched anti-riot operation that led to bloodshed at the Krue Se Mosque in Pattani in 2004. But Pallop fell out of favour as soon as Thaksin's life was in jeopardy.

At the government's intervention, Pallop had managed to keep his position of deputy director of Internal Security Operation Command (Isoc) in spite of domestic and international calls for his head after the Krue Se Mosque action.

But following Thaksin's lightning order yesterday, he lost his job even before there was proof to link him to the supposed attack.

When Thaksin was a junior police officer struggling to launch a second career in business, he relied on favours dispensed by Chulachomklao Class 7 officers, including Pallop, who dominated the political landscape in the 1980s.

He secured state licences with the blessings of then political big-shot Chalerm Yoobamrung, seen as close to Class 7 officers.

Without Pallop and his Class 7 buddies, the Shinawatra telecommunications business empire might not have taken off.

After Thaksin decided to enter politics, another Class 7 officer, Chamlong Srimuang, took him under his wing and allowed the use of the Palang Dharma Party as the springboard to form the Thai Rak Thai Party.

Following his first election victory in 2001, Thaksin rewarded Pallop with the Isoc job and designated him as his right-hand man on security affairs.

At the height of street protests earlier this year, Class 7 officers, including Chamlong, and former Senate speaker Manoonkrit Roopkachorn, broke away from the government and campaigned rigorously against Thaksin.

Only Pallop pledged his unwavering loyalty, even though he also warned about a possible military take-over if Thaksin failed to reconcile differences with his opponents. His recent remarks showed increasing scepticism that democratic means could resolve the tension.

As Thaksin resumed his duties in May following his seven-week political break, the intelligence and security community started to monitor plots relating to alleged assassination attempts against the prime minister.

Veteran officials sounded the alarm on the plots but took them with a grain of salt because tip-offs could often be traced to double agents working on both sides of the government fence.

When the government leaked reports about threats to Thaksin's life, critics laughed them off as a sham to smear opponents and win public sympathy.

By the same token, the government dismissed opponents' concerns about rough handling of protesters, claiming they had an ulterior motive to harass the prime minister under the pretext of free speech.

The attacks at Central World Plaza on Monday was a case in point, demonstrating how Thaksin's supporters and opponents had choreographed their activities in order to blame the other side for violence.

The rival sides have apparently tried to sway public sentiment. For opponents, it is clear they want to expose Thaksin for his flawed leadership. The government chooses, in turn, to bait protesters to act in an unruly way in order to justify its bullying tactics instead of taking pre-emptive measures to ensure peace.

The uncovering of the alleged "car bomb" is like a replay of the Central World Plaza scuffle.

The prime minister's security officers detected a suspicious car casing in the area two months ago but took no action.

Two days ago, Mahachon Party deputy leader Akapol Surasuchart raised concern that Thaksin might have angered his opponents to the point of inciting suicide bombers to target him.

Akapol was reacting to the scuffles between Thaksin's supporters and opponents. His boss Sanan Kachornprasart has strong ties with Class 7 officers.

Following his remarks about suicide bombers, authorities suddenly decided to give chase to the same suspicious car before uncovering explosives, which - if actually connected for detonation - could have inflicted damage over a 500-metre radius.

The car had a fake licence plate and driver Thawatchai Klinchana confessed to being Pallop's subordinate on an Isoc assignment. The explosion would, hypothetically, have been on the same scale as a car bomb that went off at a Yala hotel, an incident linked to the violence in the deep South.

Pallop denied his involvement, although it is apparent that Thawatchai is an Isoc official. The mystery has deepened because the car and the explosives seem to have been issued by the government.

Members of the public have to draw their own conclusions as the government's supporters and opponents increasingly resort to underhand tactics to undermine one another.

Avudh Panananda

The Nation