The disdain amongst the wealthy for a state in which landless farmers, low-paid workers and slum-dwellers feel at the heart of a kingdom can not be overstated.

Meanwhile, people are beginning to think the coup was so gentlemanly it should have an under-strength beer named after it. Watching the interim government go through its paces is a bit like watching someone trying to fold a balloon into a matchbox. Sadly, a government is not the place to learn lessons but to put into effect lessons already learnt.

For what it's worth, I think there is cause for optimism. There will come a time when the phenomenal energies and talents of this country can be unleashed - and it will be a moment of rare convergence.

Should they be worried about Thaksin?

Thaksin claims he wants nothing more to do with politics but makes political statements from nine different countries a week. "All allegations are baseless," he trills. For Thaksin to claim he is not interested in politics any more is like Pablo Escobar saying he only ever had a passing interest in Colombian marching powder.

He says he wants to be a private citizen in Thailand but will remain a member of the Thai Rak Thai. Do you trust him? I wouldn't trust him with the remote.

The fact is, corruption is still exactly what it says on the tin. Bribes distort the market by adding to the cost of the product without adding to its value. Look at the new airport. Your new airport. His new airport. Where we are welcomed with open tills.

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When Thaksin's lawyer said of his client a couple of weeks back, "Don't forget, it isn't Thaksin's nature to stay in one place. He gets bored easily," he may have said more than he meant.

Thaksin became bored and irritable with just about anything that got in his way. So now its London, Beijing, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan. And back again. One VIP lounge after another. Not a bad life really. If nothing else, he deserves the Carbon Footprint of the Month award.

It's just a hunch, but in the end, I think the significance of Thaksin may be lost, partly because of the distortions of his critics and partly because of the twaddle of his supporters. But who knows?

Will he hunker down in a five-star suite in Tokyo to write a 900-page tome called "The Bleak Struggle", or will he be found face down in a bowl of radioactive sushi?

Perhaps he'll end up in therapy twice a week and spend every night staring into space on lithium. But somehow, I just don't think we'll ever see him in a Chelsea gutter munching a packet of Heinz Badger Scratchings and begging with a crystal decanter, sitting next to one of those rug-haired ferrety yipperty dogs on a bit of string.

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Meanwhile, Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom conceded that in his ministry, there was corruption at policy level that cost the state "billions of baht" in damage, but officials "could not bring corrupt ministers to justice because permanent officials who followed the orders of ministers would also be held responsible". You don't say?

The politically committed are like football fans - and football teams - now you mention it. They support their side come what may and refuse to see any good in the opposing team. And whenever they lose they insist they were cheated

The point is, one way or another dishonesty always has to be paid for. By the way, do you think corrupt politicians use simulators or does it come so naturally they don't have to practise?

As to reticent departments who refuse to file complaints, it's quite simple really: "Listen, if you don't tell us who fiddled the contract, we'll inject you with bird flu." That should concentrate the mind wonderfully.

Airport management will be asked to explain exactly why air-traffic control is currently operating on the roof of the control tower because it had to make room for a duty-free shop, or be demoted and sent in eternal shame to wave table-tennis bats at light aircraft in Mae Hong Song.

Or should we just enter their names for the Al-Qaeda Fun Run without telling them?

"It was a shocking marathon for us," panted Pud from the Agricultural Ministry. But a hilarious one for everyone else, Pud.

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The Airports of Thailand have got a nerve. Raising the departure tax by 40 per cent. "To pay for the cracks," snorted a helpful spokesman.

Still, the best news coming out of Suvarnabhumi is undoubtedly the delayed delivery of the giant Airbus A380. Imagine one of those mothers stuck in a rut slowly sinking up to its wings. Take your time, Airbus. We know the wiring is tricky. No hurry.

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As you may have read, Burma's military dictatorship recently accused Aung San Suu Kyi of tax evasion for not spending her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winnings in the country - even though she has been under strict house arrest for more than 11 years.

In an editorial, The New Light of Myanmar, wrote: "Dear Esteemed Peasantry [by which they mean 'swinish multitude'], she avoided paying taxes by asking her family members abroad to spend all her cash awards."

As Debbie Stothard of the activist group Altsean-Burma deftly replied: "The woman doesn't even have access to a doctor, let alone a shopping centre."

Quotables:

"Eventually, I suppose, every empire comes to terms with the fact it has no divine right to rule. Otherwise, at every meeting of the Rome borough council, someone would shout: "Never mind the new one-way system around the Trevi fountain, let's invade France. I mean come on - we didn't wipe out Carthage by hesitating - let's go." - Mark Steel, The Independent.

"The ETA confirms that the permanent cease-fire declared on March 24 still holds - but claims responsibility for the Madrid attack." - Pro-independence Basque newspaper Gara on its Website.

"Earlier Monday, Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, Saddam's half brother, was executed before dawn. Barzan's head was torn from his body by the noose but a government official insisted that [his] human rights had not been violated." - Agence France-Presse.

"When a country like Somalia has to ask Ethiopia for help you know things must be pretty f****d." - The "John Stewart Show".

Sunday thought:

Every North Korean bank note bears the inscription: "We do not envy anyone in the world."

Roger Beaumont