Thaksin has opened up many fronts. He has engaged a US lobbyist to repackage him and created an international media blitz. Targeting the inept Bank of Thailand and paradoxical Ministry of Finance, Thaksin has tried to point out that his economic policies were more effective than the royally-inspired "sufficiency economy". He said something that did not get a lot of publicity - that he would like to return to Thailand with the slate wiped clean, implying amnesty for himself.

However, Thaksin will suffer a major blow if the Constitutional Tribunal renders a verdict to dissolve his Thai Rak Thai Party. Early in his forced exile, Thaksin faxed his resignation as leader of the party he founded. It was not a great move. For one thing the resignation will not absolve him from any offences committed by Thai Rak Thai. As its then leader, Thaksin would be prohibited from serving in an elected office for five years if the party were dissolved.

As usual, Thaksin either suffered from bad advice or chose to go with his instincts. While his resignation will not give him any protection, it caused the party to disintegrate as other executive committee members then also resigned in droves.

Thaksin is facing multiple legal charges: civil, criminal and constitutional. The CNS has many agencies working on them, from the Auditor-General to the Assets Examination Committee. The old police colonel is still vulnerable over the alleged extra-judicial killings of hundreds if not thousands during his war on drugs.

Many Thaksin-related corruption scandals involve complicated issues, but Suvarnabhumi Airport will be the legacy of shame he brands on the national psyche. He wanted to make the airport a showcase and create an "aeropolis" around it that would be managed as a special administrative entity accountable to practically no one. Suvarnabhumi cost Bt140 billion baht to build, but that amount is peanuts compared to the fortunes to be made in the aeropolis scheme. His spin doctor, Noppadon Pattama, tried to contain the damage to the level of transport minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit, but it was not possible to whitewash Thaksin. His signature is on every nook and cranny of Suvarnabhumi. We remember all too well when he camped out at the airport site to conduct a first-hand inspection of the construction work. We also recall his rush for a "soft opening", landing gleefully at Suvarnabhumi.

The ongoing chess match is about Thaksin's return to Thailand. On this subject the CNS has many voices, from General Sonthi Boonyaratglin to General Saprang Kalayanamitra to General Surayud Chulanont. There are many nuances to their statements but, in the final analysis, there are many preconditions. If Thaksin feels that he has bargaining chips, he may have to use them after the election. During and after the election Thaksin can spend his financial resources on political parties and on components of the probable coalition government. Time would be beneficial to Thaksin, but he is a restless man.

Thai politics is tough to predict for analysts - astrologers oftentimes have better luck. But some in both professions do not expect general elections in September. They mention the plebiscite on the constitution and the need to prevent Thaksin from "buying in" as key roadblocks delaying the election. When Thaksin said he was through with politics - "enough is enough" - his friends and foes alike realised that it's never enough for him; he has called it quits many times before. Thaksin has perfected denial into an art form. He still refuses to see the carnage he left behind or the paralysis he has caused at the grassroots level, not to mention his overspending outside the legislative process and saddling the government with a mountain of debt. In six years he stunted the growth of political institutions all around, particularly Parliament and independent agencies.

In the months ahead, the Suvarnabhumi fiasco will become the "concrete" manifestation of the spectacular and monumental failure under Thaksin's watch. He has injected poisonous carcinogens into the Thai body politic. We will need both time and effective treatment with him away in exile and, in due course, warrants for his arrest. As a man of means, he can criss-cross the globe, but ultimately he will grow old and irrelevant outside the kingdom.

Tunyatape Suwanjindar

Bangkok

Ex-premier's comments may be scripted by his lobby firm 

The foreign media love Thaksin because he has hired professionals to enhance his image. Naturally, these professionals have the time to do research for his benefit. We have not seen the TV broadcasts of his interviews, but I wonder whether they were carefully scripted to show how good he is.

Observer

Bangkok

Why open his mouth when he can't keep his foot out of it?

 Re: "For Thaksin, enough is not really enough after all", Opinion February 4.

Thaksin Shinawatra's latest antics in giving a series of "exclusive interviews" to the international media are, if anything, self-destroying: he can never control his mouth.

In his latest question-and-answer session with Time magazine, he mentioned Thailand's most revered institution in a very inappropriate way. He should have avoided mentioning it. But then again, it's typical of Thaksin to ask for trouble even when it is uncalled for.

Looking back, if Thaksin had used his power wisely while he was in office by using his mouth appropriately, he would have stayed securely at the helm for a long time. He would not have been toppled in a coup, and with the general consent of the people.

Chavalit Van

Chiang Mai

No to police academy's tie-up with Thaksin's alma mater 

 I'm all for Thailand's Police Cadet Academy offering master's degree courses. But when academy director Pol Lt-General Pongsaphat Pongcharoen revealed that the academy had joined hands with the US-based Sam Houston State University to offer a two-year course in criminal justice, I was taken aback.

Sam Houston State University is where ex-PM Thaksin earned his PhD in Criminal Justice, and is the institution that voted him an "Outstanding Criminal Justice Alumnus".

The coup-makers cited rampant corruption as a major reason for their takeover, and the government is currently investigating Thaksin, kin and cronies for graft in a multitude of cases, including Suvarnabhumi Airport - now an international disgrace.

Therefore, the Police Cadet Academy should team up with an institution whose alumni are better known for enforcing the rule of law - not getting around it. I suggest we don't need Thaksin clones.

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok

Hello! Serious action would engender serious respect

 The international press does not appear ready to issue a passing grade to our interim government, which they see as lacking in cohesion - a clumsy, bumbling organisation too preoccupied with the international travel itinerary of the deposed prime minister to make real progress on the corruption issue or to offer the nation much more than superficial knee-jerk reactions to events that appear to be well beyond their control. The lights are on but no one's home.

Cha-am Jamal

Phetchaburi

Curbs needed on junk food advertisements as well

The Skytrain system in Bangkok has images of "tasty" hamburgers along the entire length of some trains. It is a shame to promote eating unhealthy junk food in public places, and that too in a country with one of the best and healthiest cuisines in the world.

If you ban smoking because it is hazardous to health then you should also discourage eating junk food, or at least ban advertising it on public places. And you should definitely not have fast-food restaurants in hospitals!

Obesity is a disease and in Thailand it is especially common among youngsters. I consider it one of the excesses of globalisation, not contributing anything to the well-being of local citizens. On the contrary, more and more Thai shops and stores are disappearing and eating habits are changing for the worse.

Nick

Bangkok

Why get all hot and bothered about global warming?

The possible extent of civilisation-induced global warming pales beside the hysteria now being fomented over it. If polar bears are truly to give way to more kangaroos and vibrant tropical foliage, and balmier Canadian winters result in declining numbers of Speedo-clad Canadian pensioners on Florida beaches, I'm left conflicted, at worst.

And I cannot, in good conscience, begrudge northerners whatever additional warmth they may derive from ongoing climate change that now tends ever so slightly in their favour. A glance at the world map confirms that we are still absolutely top-heavy with under-used boreal real estate just waiting for global warming to live up to the dire predictions.

As for sea levels, perhaps it's time the Qattara Depression in Africa and other sub-sea level areas like it be put to good use generating hydroelectricity by allowing the sea to flow in, as has long been envisioned, simultaneously regulating sea levels a tad. The rift valley separating Israel from Jordan, used similarly, would combine economic with political-strategic benefits by further separating Israelis from unhappy Arab neighbours.

Climate change, though unavoidable, may be amenable to sensible amelioration; but let's not allow the hot air of irrationality to further exacerbate the situation.

Ron Goodden

Atlanta, USA