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Published on April 8, 2008

Their words touched a raw nerve with him and left him fuming only two days after he was discharged from a top hospital.

He had been bedridden with influenza and food poisoning, an odd mixture of maladies that coincidentally kept him out of public view while Thaksin Shinawatra, the real boss of his political party, was in town for a second homecoming to steal some of the limelight for political gain.

Four days in the hospital must have re-energised the ageing political diehard. Back behind the microphone at Government House last Friday for his usual sparring session with reporters, Samak retained his vitality, roaring like a lion ready to take on its adversaries.

The illness obviously failed to sap his stamina despite an earlier complaint about tiredness resulting from exhaustive visits to neighbouring countries. Yet this should not have been a matter of being overworked, as problems old and new await the able hands of Cabinet members.

Samak appeared subdued during his Sunday morning television talk show, leading people to believe he may have mellowed due to the daunting task facing him and may have learned that political pretensions don't pay, especially in his case.

That's why Samak chose to be his true self, disregarding civility while dealing with unpleasant issues and detractors. In his view, all of them deserved his barrage of unkind words for having the gall to challenge his national stewardship.

The first to feel the acid tongue of Samak was People Power Party spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang who boldly advised him not to indulge too greatly in nonsensical activities and rambling, saying he should instead pay more attention to a results-oriented performance while in office.

Kuthep is an ex-monk with long years spent studying and preaching Buddhist precepts. People suspect he chose to lecture the combative boss out of a desire to please a senior party leadership now increasingly displeased with Samak over his refusal to toe the line as Thaksin's political nominee.

Yet what the spokesman received was only a caustic remark: "The man had too much free time; therefore, much ado about nothing."

But in the two following cases, Samak smelled blood. A fortune-teller in Chiang Mai who is much revered by military figures and other notables made a prediction suggesting there could be bloodletting in the streets resulting from political conflicts and violence.

What's more, the soothsayer went a step further, predicting Samak's term would not last long and that the present Army chief would succeed him following the turbulence. The role of the military in politics will remain strong for quite a while.

"The guy should feel ashamed of himself. He erred in his earlier foretelling that Abhisit, not myself, would be prime minister. Now see what's reality," Samak said.

No more soft talk and niceties.

He continued for a few more minutes, verbally tearing the fortune-teller to shreds. If words could kill, Samak may be a mass murderer. The list of his victims would be long indeed.

The soothsayer needs a lot of soothing words for himself. He should take pride in being given such significance by the prime minister, who took him quite seriously. Samak's anger somehow reflects his inner worries about his own vulnerability and lack of support within the party.

Yet he saved the last word for Thirayuth Boonmee, a well-known political scientist and social critic at Thammasat University whom Thaksin greatly abhors for his usually hurtful lectures and projecting unpleasant scenarios. The former student activist is also a keen inventor of terms ridiculing the powers that be.

While still in power, Thaksin blew his top quite a few times whenever the lecturer came out with a new analysis. The man appeared to be harmless enough, but his words stung, infuriating Thaksin and his cronies, who took turns to discredit whatever statements Thirayuth made, but to no avail.

The five causes for political and social decay marshalled point by point by the lecturer did not target Samak in particular - not even a mild reference was made - but rather focused mainly on the prevailing political situation. That was enough to enrage him, resulting in a sarcastic rebuttal devoid of good manners.

Maybe Kuthep was correct that Samak should devote more time to serious business rather than taking verbal pot shots at his critics.

Two months have been wasted without anything productive having been accomplished. Instead, the period has been ridden with a series of controversial issues and scandals.

As of now, this lack of any real achievement is fully compensated by an oversupply of nonsensical acts and talk, with several Cabinet members proving themselves top-notch talents in these areas. Nobody can tell when the show of follies will end.

Sopon Onkgara

The Nation