Its snail's pace, compromising working style, coupled with various missteps, have drawn sharp criticisms from all quarters. However, in the past week, it has dug its own grave by taking questionable approaches to solving problems.

First, the Shin Satellite saga. The matter hinges on whether Kularb Kaew is a real Thai company, taking into account shareholders' voting rights and sources of capital as well, because if not, Temasek would own more than 50 per cent of ShinSat, thereby violating the Foreign Business Act.

The Commerce Ministry's Business Development Department has already said that Kularb Kaew is indeed a nominee of Temasek. Should legal avenues be taken to reclaim the satellite rights, Thailand might end up waging a long legal battle.

The most ridiculous idea floating around is for the National Statistics Bureau to conduct an opinion poll asking the public if they want the satellites back. Do we need such a poll?

The case of ShinSat, as well as the entire sale of Shin Corp to Temasek, is not about whether the public, or anyone else for that matter, would like anything back. It's about investigating if there were any violations of Thai law and taking due actions to right any such actions no matter how long it might take.

Another absurd proposal is for the government to buy back the satellite rights. Discussions went as far as debating whether it would be worth it. If the transaction violated the law, the sale might have been void all along. Why do we need to buy back things taken suspiciously from us? The buyer might not be the rightful owner in the first place.

It's the duty of government officials to make certain that business transactions, whether undertaken by Thai or foreign companies, obey Thai law. They are the ones who must uphold the law and guard against smart manoeuvres and the exploitation of legal loopholes.

Would a public survey mean that officials would not take any action if, say, the opinion poll shows that only 10 per cent of those surveyed want control of the satellites back? What kind of standard is the government setting for future transactions?

And this is not a case of Thailand not welcoming foreign investors. Would any other country allow the likes of the Temasek-Shin Corp deal to take place? Would the Singaporean government, or any other, allow foreign companies to buy into sensitive, if not strategic, industries?

Secondly, the appointment of Somkid Jatusripitak as the government's economic envoy. At times when the government should listen carefully to public opinion it doesn't, and this was the case here. Even though Somkid has finally decided to step down, the bashing the government received was totally avoidable. How could the government even imagine, let alone actually appoint, someone from the previous government that it condemns so much?

It's understandable that the Surayud administration wants to explain the concept behind the sufficiency economy theory to foreigners, and who could have done a better job than the previous economic tsar and promoter of "Thaksinomics" Somkid?

The political gambit could have broken Thaksin's network and at the same time, counter his claims on the success of Thaksinomics.

But how credible would Somkid be in the eyes of the international community? Someone with a sudden change of heart doesn't come across as a respectable authority. The appointment would have confused foreigners even further about what is going on in Thailand.

The appointment of Somkid also unleashed a lot of questions about the government's conscientiousness. What other surprises will pop up next?

The biggest mistake, though, lies with Premier Surayud's decision to halt the forming of the working group that Somkid was supposed to head altogether once the man announced he was stepping down.

This dented the government's credibility because, obviously, it is not serious about forming the working group. Many other valid candidates are capable of doing the job as well.

For now, the administration need not worry about what others think abroad, because even domestically, it is confusing the public.

What's more disturbing is that all these tragic miscalculations point to a government losing its sense of direction and, five months on the job, not possessing the competence to deal with politics.

The Surayud leadership doesn't have a lot of time left to prove it is capable of bringing changes worthy of the coup and not just leave everything in the status quo, or in worse shape, once it leaves.

The worst-case scenario would be for the public to totally give up hope on what this government can do.

Veenarat Laohapakakul