In each of his incarnations he has stayed true to form by putting his own interests first. Instead of handing in his resignation, he has decided to drag the country through an election. The snap decision exposed his true character.

Thaksin is confident he will be returned to power and - facing widespread allegations of using his power to benefit his family's business - will use the votes he gathers to attempt to cleanse his image.

Thaksin's reason for dissolving the House is illuminating. Usually, prime ministers call elections when they need more seats in Parliament.

When the Phalang Dharma Party withdrew from former prime minister Chuan Leekpai's coalition, Chuan dissolved the House because he could not find another coalition partner.

Former premier Banharn Silpa-archa had to dissolve the House after New Aspiration Party leader General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh threatened to withdraw from their coalition if Banharn refused to resign.

In both cases, the premiers had failed to hold a majority of seats in the House and were left with few options.

But Thaksin still controls a sizeable majority of the seats.

This time, the political crisis is a result of his family's questionable Bt73.3-billion deal with the investment arm of the Singaporean government.

He has turned a personal crisis into a national one, forcing an election on his MPs. And it will be the taxpayers who will have to foot the bill for an election, one that was called to deflect the backlash over the tax-free sale of his family's stake in the firm he

founded.

There is no reasonable justification for dissolving the House. Rather than make a gracious exit, Thaksin is tearing down the house around him.

The snap election is a manoeuvre by Thaksin to return to Government House with a clean "mandate".

This is Thaksin's adaptation of democracy. He's turning it into something that looks a bit like money laundering.

All the conditions appear to be to Thaksin's advantage. He has an abundance of money, control of the state's apparatus and much of the media and more candidates than his rival parties. With a mere 35 days to campaign, a victory would appear inevitable for Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party.

Thaksin might hope to breeze through to victory, but he should realise the consequences of his snap decision.

What will happen when the new MPs vote for a new prime minister after the election? There will surely be chaotic scenes as the anti-Thaksin groups besiege Parliament to pressure MPs as they vote.

What the anti-Thaksin groups want is to see the end of him.

If he succeeds in retaining his job he will trigger a long-lasting crisis that could lead to violence.

The growing number of people who oppose him want to erase him from Thai politics.

No matter how many seats his party wins, questions over his family's recent business deals will continue to multiply.

Allegations of tax evasion and passing laws to benefit his family's businesses need to be answered. Money must be returned to the country.

With the snap election, Thaksin is once again forcing taxpayers to foot his bill. This snap decision reveals a lifelong habit.

It is obviously a habit he cannot break. We will have to break it for him.

Jintana Panyaarvudh

The Nation