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In his Tuesday encounter with the foreign press - shortly after tens of thousands of anti-government protesters had seized the compound of Government House - Samak tossed out the famous line "To be or not to be" at least three times. He also said, on several occasions, that he would be "soft and gentle" with the protesters.

But it was debatable as to how much of Shakespeare's Hamlet tragedy was really on his mind, consciously or subconsciously. He might have tossed out one of the most famous quotations in the literary world, but the "soft and gentle" part probably came from a television commercial for soap, detergent or washing-up liquid.

Because Samak is not known for having great intellect - or for showing any sign that he is about to hang up his gloves - Bangkokian stayed up half the night trying to make sense out of the Shakespearean connotation in his statement.

"To be or not to be, that is the question" - this question is associated with the action of Hamlet at the moment when he contemplates his own death. Hamlet's state of being was so wretched that suicide was a real option.

On the contrary, Samak is not about to give up without a fight. One can say he has already committed political suicide by agreeing to take up the helm from ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, knowing full well the grave risk behind this.

But still, this outspoken veteran of Thailand's politics is no quitter. Samak sees himself as doing the right thing or being on the side of the righteous. Whether it was the October 1976 massacre of Thammasat University students or the death of 78 Malay-Muslim protesters in Tak Bai while in custody, moral scruples have never been an issue for him.

Shakespeare spoke of "conscience" that "does make cowards of us all". But surely he was talking about more than the unknown that awaits us. The soliloquy played on the theme of responsibility - in Hamlet's case, of a noble mind in an evil world. Judging from his track record, it is very likely that we will never see that kind of moral injunction for Samak.