Is his apparently personal move in fact a major sign of something huge about to happen? Is it related to the present showdown between the Election Commission (EC) and the three highest courts?

Yes, it's time once again for your most Frequently Asked Questions. As usual, please use your own judgement in regard to the answers. While I was spot on last time about the next election not occurring within 60 days, I was also adamant on the same occasion that critics calling election commissioners shameless, stubborn, thick-skinned and suicidal were a bit harsh.

What's Borwornsak up to?

He said he would enter the monkhood to honour His Majesty the King and not return to politics, because there was too much divisiveness in the Kingdom now. This seemed to kill the speculation at manager.co.th that he quit his Cabinet job to work full-time as a legal adviser to the embattled Thai Rak Thai Party.

My take is that Borwornsak either has finally heeded the call of his conscience, or simply thinks the ship is sinking. (Whether or not he's packing his bags in a panic would be a great clue.) The Manager website seems to have forgotten one thing: You don't have to resign from a government job to work for Thaksin or Thai Rak Thai as personal legal aide. In this country, you can serve as, say, a revenue official and tax adviser for you-know-who at the same time.

But one thing is certain: Borwornsak leaves with loads of classified information. And even if Deputy PM Wissanu Krea-ngam, another Thaksin legal bigwig, wants to follow him out the door, he can't, because he's in too deep.

Will Thai Rak Thai be dissolved?

The report from the Nam Yimyaem subcommittee on the party's alleged election fraud looks damning. The closed-circuit video footage leaked from the Defence Ministry is just one piece of what seems to be quite a comprehensive set of evidence.

But to me, the biggest piece of evidence of all is the fact that Thaksin has acted like he never knew Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura before.

And last but not least, we have come to a point where nothing is impossible politically.

And the Democrat Party, too?

The remaining three Election Commissioners are bluffing. Under pressure to treat the Nam panel's report with a modicum of respect, they've chosen to make veiled threats against the Democrats (whom Thai Rak Thai has accused of bribing small parties to frame it). What a smart move! Just when they're being lambasted left, right and centre for being biased and lacking integrity and legitimacy, the EC decides to sit on the Nam subcommittee's findings and all but threaten to bring down the main opposition.

One thing is for sure: It's Thailand's top judges, not the three commissioners, who will decide the future of the Democrats and Thai Rak Thai alike. And while the Election Commission has both the legal and constitutional power to indict the parties, we can rest assured that if or when that happens, it will be new commissioners who will do it. Those shameless, stubborn, thick-skinned and suicidal ones won't last long enough to carry the task out.

What about the question of Thaksin's legitimacy as caretaker prime minister?

Again, anything is possible now. The Administrative Court has thrown out complaints about his legal status but only on jurisdictional grounds. As of now, the buck seems to have stopped at the Constitution Court. It would be quite an irony if it ruled against him, considering the same court let him off the hook in 2001 for an alleged political crime that was far more blatant.

But can they really throw him out of office just like that? Let me put it this way: If a conspiracy really has been set in motion to put the man away once and for all like the Thai Rak Thai camp claims, the collaborators have two choices. They can be lenient and give Thailand's, shrewdest, richest and most powerful politician a little breathing space and a graceful exit, or they can show him no mercy.

When will the next election take place?

We've lived for weeks without a House of Representatives, practically two Senates, and a caretaker government that might just be declared illegal - and life hasn't been all that bad, has it? And with two major parties facing dissolution and the EC reduced to a shameless, stubborn, thick-skinned and suicidal lot, why should we be worried about when the next poll will be held?

Writer's note: This column was written before the news broke last night of the EC's decision to forward the Nam subcommittee's findings to the Attorney-General's Office without making any conclusions. Initially, this appears to be more a tactical move than anything else.

 Tulsathit Taptim