Among the various means that Thaksin's cronies and underlings used as counter-measures were paid mobs to support the government and harass critics and the pro-democracy crowd with messy criminal charges and expensive libel suits.

There were strong suspicions then, that government-cheering crowds were given daily allowances by politicians to sustain their rallies. At one point they staged a day-long blockade of The Nation complex with a threat of violence.

There was always denial, of course. The suspicion led to the conviction that paid mobs were real. Their background, pattern of behaviour and other factors fit well with the description of organised rallies. Money was the key inspiration instead of conviction or sense of outrage against injustice, or whatever.

Although Thaksin has to endure disgrace and discomfort in exile, there are periodic "undercurrents" of support in the form of Saturday rallies at Sanam Luang, with just a few hundred participants and onlookers. Their battle cry fails to attract even lukewarm public attention due to dubious intent and lack of credibility.

Government authorities and political watchers suspect that the organisers of these rallies must have financial support from some source, most probably politicians who form an inner circle of Thaksin's cronies.

This suspicion would have remained so, had there not been a startling revelation by one "Thepanom Sirivithayaraks", who is a self-confessed organiser of mob rallies with fat pay cheques from politicians and others originating from Thaksin's residence.

"Thepanom" sang like a lark last Friday at a press conference in a Khon Kaen hotel, where he detailed how he had accepted money from politicians to organise street protesters for various purposes, with specific targets assigned.

Each time, the amount of money received ranged from Bt5 million to Bt9 million. He was impressed by the generosity of politicians who needed results. But the money paid was negligible compared with the high stakes for the politicians. These, of course, took the form of wide-ranging opportunities for fast-track enrichment through kickbacks in multi-million baht deals.

It was General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the Army chief, who lamented over the pathetic state of the country. Through various tricks and scheming by crooked politicians and their partners in crime, the nation's assets had been plundered. Over the five years of Thaksin's rule, there was an unprecedented level of corruption.

At one point, Sonthi blurted out that if those politicians still remained in power, they would have eaten everything, leaving only the bones. He was off the mark. If Sonthi and his comrades in arms had not rolled out the battle tanks to oust Thaksin from power, those greedy criminals would have got down to the bone marrow, leaving virtually nothing,

Investigators are still busy unravelling the massive graft cases committed during the Thaksin regime. That's why the cronies of the wealthy politician-in-exile are desperate to protect themselves from criminal prosecution and punishment.

Organised rallies of paid demonstrators -disgruntled rural people now suffering from the removal of populist projects and freebies - are the most promising non-violent option for supporters of the former regime. But the interim government has to provide assistance to those poor souls if it wants to win the psychological war.

At the same time, it might be more difficult for paid mobs to gain support now that Thepanom has spilt the beans and confirmed the public's suspicion that there were indeed demonstrators for hire at the beck and call of politicians.

Life will surely be more miserable for Thaksin and his family members, who face a series of investigations for criminal wrongdoing. Thepanom's confession has made them look worse. They have still not been able to come to terms with the reversal in their political fortune.

It is not only Thepanom who dropped a bombshell over paid mobs. Another rag-tag organiser at Sanam Luang on Saturday had taken Bt10 million from a notorious politician who was close to Thaksin and did some dirty work for him.

The revelations, exposing malicious intent and dubious political objectives, have erased whatever credibility the organisers of rallies still have. They also enable the government and the military to deal with paid demonstrators through various measures, starting with soft talk and moving towards coercive persuasion for them to cease subversive anti-government rallies planned for December 10.

After being on the defensive for two months, General Sonthi and the government are obviously staging an offensive, with more investigations into corruption cases linked to Thaksin and his crowd.

The period of exile could be permanent if the man does not want to face criminal charges back home.

Likewise, the authorities can roll back the "undercurrents" of support now that there is proof beyond reasonable doubt that those menacing protesters have been on the take from politicians. Their claim to be pursuing democracy is just a cry in exchange for money.

Sopon Onkgara