He said something quite similar a week ago, after a car loaded with explosives was spotted in Bang Phlad, near his residence. The car was stopped on the belief that it was part of a plan to assassinate the prime minister.

Thaksin then said intelligence police had learnt of the assassination plan two weeks before the car took to the streets. And while there are claims that the assassination plot was a hoax, many Thaksin supporters wonder why the PM had to take so many precautions after the incident. The number of guards assigned to Thaksin has increased. They even went with him to the golf course last weekend. Yesterday, Thaksin also rode across Bangkok in a limousine without licence plates, all in the name of heightened security.

Are there any paradoxes here?

While the alleged plan to assassinate the prime minister was foiled in a very high-profile way that continues to inspire widespread criticism. Meanwhile, police had been alerted to the possibility of bombs in Yala, yet they were allowed to explode anyway, causing injuries and death.

The style of the attacks suggests they were intended to surprise. The bombs exploded at 25 different locations in a matter of five minutes, between 11.30am and 11.35am. Moreover, the bombs had been hidden in handbags and thick books that had been hollowed out. They were mostly planted in ATM booths. Given that yesterday was the last day of the month, when so many people would be queuing up to withdraw money, the bombs could have hurt so many more people.

So, to recap, the police were alert enough to stop a car near Thaksin's residence that contained only the raw materials required to make a bomb. The bomb had not been wired to explode. Yet they knowingly let 25 bombs that had been wired explode around Yala, causing serious damages, injuries and death.

That sounds paradoxical to me.

Fuel-price relief

High oil prices are really hurting businesses all over the world, cutting into their revenues as they try to compete in a global economic environment.

At least one company out there is trying to make a difference. According to an article by the Associated Press, a brothel in Sydney, with high oil prices having hurt its business, is offering customers fuel-price relief.

The brothel, a legal outfit in the western suburbs, has placed an ad in Sydney newspapers offering a discount of 20 Australian cents (Bt5.75) a litre to customers carrying petrol station receipts.

We don't have legal brothels in Thailand, but other service businesses may consider this strategy to boost sales. What about MK Suki, whose sales have slumped?

achara_d@nationgroup.com