He has insisted all along that his visit would be a private one. If that is so, then why summon these Bangkok-based envoys and have them relay such a message to their respective governments? Surely this was more of an opportunity for him to slam the opposition Democrat Party and boast about how clean the April 2 election was.

Recent reports, plus conversations with the diplomats themselves, have revealed that they felt these requests to meet with their leaders were placing them in an awkward position.

Their lack of enthusiasm is understandable indeed.

First, the manner in which Thaksin left the premiership was simply too murky, and thus it would be reasonable to assume that none of these foreign governments would want to appear to be buddying up to him. After all, he is currently no more than a lame-duck prime minister - and a much-reviled one at that.

In the diplomatic world of protocol, there is also a question of how to receive Thaksin. He is not exactly a "former" head of government. His status during these visits, amid this time of rapid changes, is still very much uncertain. Maybe Thaksin could not care less about diplomatic protocol?

While he may still have some old friends living abroad, Thaksin appears to be banking on the notion that his international stature will come through for him in securing meetings with these heads of state at such short notice.

One senior opposition member hit the nail right on the head with his opinion that Thaksin's foreign tour was purely for domestic consumption.

To get a better understanding of Thaksin's unconventional behaviour, it pays to look into the recent past. The embattled Thai premier has never hesitated to push the envelope with any controversial idea or action in any forum, domestic or international, if it would improve his ratings.

He jumped on the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Bangkok, for example, as an opportunity to boast to world leaders about his much-hyped One Tambon One Product (Otop) products. And yet he balked on issues that could have helped him really climb a notch or two in the opinions of those same leaders.

When asked about the root causes of terrorism, Thaksin stunned the international press corps by dismissing that as a "technical question". He seemed completely to forget that terrorism, not Otop, was at the centre of discussions at the Apec meet.

Furthermore, he would frequently boast about how well he knew this or that world leader. His can-do attitude has inspired many of his supporters, but there were also many who saw right through the man and the hype behind him.

And Thaksin appears to be living in Lah-Lah Land even today, believing he still wields enough clout in the world community to expect foreign leaders to snap to attention at a moment's notice.

What Thaksin has never been able to understand is that all of those state banquets and 19-gun salutes his foreign hosts have given him these past five years were because he was the head of the Thai government, certainly not because of himself per se.

But then again, what else could be expected from such a man, who seems to believe that what is good for him is good for Thailand - and not the other way around?