He was the one who set the ball rolling in the first place. Alas! The result was simply not what he had expected.

It was Thaksin's own miscalculations that eventually led to his political demise, and now he has to endure the frustration and the sense of betrayal in London. It will serve as his residence in exile for a while. But don't count him out yet. The deposed icon and idol of grass-roots voters could stage a comeback by making use of his immense wealth. As of now, he has to accept the reality of regime change and the humiliation resulting from his failure to hold onto power through a last-minute emergency decree. People who closely followed the nail-biting event might have been surprised that it took Thaksin only one hour to issue an emergency decree full of complicated legalese from his hotel in New York.

That statement was actually prepared before he left for Finland. He was supposed to issue the statement in a bid to gain full power, with friends in key military positions rolling out tanks and other awesome weapons to enforce law and order after certain acts of violence had been staged. A truly sinister scheme.

Unfortunately for Thaksin, a key commander in this plot, one of his powerful classmates in the military, did not lend his support, enabling Army Chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin to launch a countermove and eventually prevail. Overconfidence, hubris and a misplaced trust in friends combined to ensure his downfall.

So it turned out to be a happy coup for all of Thaksin's critics and opponents, who were glad to be free of the authoritarian measures that had been used against them during the past five years. Public opinion polls show that 86 per cent approve of the move. That is more popular than Thaksin was during his peak.

The coup proved an effective and immediate means for quickly changing the government, though it did not necessarily solve all of the country's political, economic and social problems.

As has been said here before, extraordinary means must be exercised to deal with extraordinary circumstances. They can be used to topple democratic governments or despotic regimes. Thaksin's power and money had defied all possible, reasonable and legal solutions to the long stalemate that had threatened the country's long-term stability. Violence and bloodshed may have followed if he had not been ousted by force.

There has been an international outcry, with the loudest complaints coming from the United States and the European Union. Whether their condemnations were perfunctory or flowed from a genuine sense of outrage will depend on how they maintain such righteous posturing.

One can view these reactions and their apparent hypocrisy with cynicism. Of course, the coup was an unwelcome way to pursue regime change. But Thaksin is an extraordinary politician, such that Thailand had never experienced before, and there is still no clear method to prevent his comeback and inflict more mayhem on the country.

Among other misdeeds, the Thaksin administration's frequent violations of human rights were either overlooked or condoned by the powerful US and EU, not to mention the massive corruption, cronyism and abuse of power, as well as systematic selling off of national interests - all the justifications cited for the coup.

A Thai team was in Geneva last week to participate in a UN human rights meeting. Thailand was one of 47 countries that had to provide explanations for a wide range of human rights violations. The public does not realise that Thailand had to report on seven cases, up from just two in the previous year. All violations occurred under the Thaksin regime.

The cases for this year included the massacre at a revered mosque and the deaths of over 70 detainees in the three southernmost provinces, the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, the torture of prisoners, the murder of NGOs and human rights campaigners and the extrajudicial killings of several thousands victims in the drug war. The latest was the mob lynching of an old man at the CentralWorld complex.

The outcry was understandably inspired by vested interests. The US stands to lose a lot if it doesn't seal the free-trade agreement pursued so vigorously by Thaksin. The EU had been yearning for lucrative contracts on mega-projects and underground mass-transit deals, among others. They ignored the fact that the toppled government was authoritarian behind its veneer of electoral democracy.

Had the West been more intrusive and honest in its criticism of these violations of human rights, and if we had had an effective enforcement of the law by an impartial police force, maybe we would not need to use a coup to finally get rid of Thaksin. Of course, we still have a long way to go. At least we have turned away from looming chaos.

Sopon Onkgara