Not so fast. The prospects aren't that rosy. Remnants of authoritarian elements remain in many key government offices, including the armed forces, the national police and the civil service. They are waiting for the return of their patron Thaksin Shinawatra, who is surely vindictive and still a free man with massive wealth stashed abroad.

Why? The Council for Democratic Reform (CDR) has been disappointingly indecisive and irresolute in its pursuit of the issues it cited as reasons for staging the coup on September 19. Chiefly, the claims revolved around corruption.

When it has come to investigating politicians' assets, the measures have been half-hearted and encumbered by procedures and friction between the people trying to sort through the evidence. CDR chief General Sonthi Boonyaratglin has complained that he has been misled by elements loyal to deposed politicians.

What the CDR should have done immediately after the successful coup was to freeze the assets of politicians, kin and cronies who were in Thaksin's sphere of power and influence, using anti-money laundering laws to prevent movements of assets to avoid possible seizure and return to the national treasury.

No, the CDR did not do so. Either because of inexplicable fumbling or by design, it chose to pursue normal asset probes, which are time-consuming and allow the crooks to move their assets to safe havens, making it more difficult for investigators to trace them.

Despite the worldwide network of anti-money laundering authorities, there is not much chance of recovering hidden assets. Just look at the experience of the Committee for Good Government seeking to reclaim assets from the Marcos family.

Using sophisticated high finance and complicated systems involving trusteeships and funds, assets could be hidden under nominees and other means in areas far beyond the reach of law-enforcement agencies. Our crooked politicians are no greenhorns when it comes to hiding ill-gotten wealth.

The CDR is allowing its power to atrophy through disuse and indecisiveness, which could lead to a total failure to reclaim assets plundered from the nation in the form of taxes and kickbacks on sweetheart government contracts.

What would come after that is not difficult to surmise. People will be disappointed, disillusioned and outraged at the uselessness of a coup that only damaged the country's reputation and standing in the eyes of the international community.

The result will not have been worth the effort and the risk of having soldiers lead a putsch. It will have wasted the diesel used to power the tanks that sit in intersections around Bangkok and the sweat of the fighting forces. What's more, such a failure would also open the way for Thaksin and his associates to return and inflict revenge on his critics and opponents.

The CDR must fulfil the tasks that it used to justify its coup before it can seek a rightful claim to total amnesty. Otherwise, the CDR members will face the risk of prosecution under the Criminal Code. So far, they have not had any clear successes. The progress seen so far is hardly encouraging.

The task of rebuilding the nation cannot be accomplished without uprooting the destructive elements of the Thaksin regime that guided the country into decay, politically, economically, socially and morally.

It will take years to change the mindset and blind faith of the people who were the victims of Thaksin's populist frenzy. Their addiction is serious, if not a critical factor for the country's future.

How will the new leader and Cabinet members deal with corrosive effects of Thaksin's legacy and the coup? Firstly, they must win the confidence and trust of the people by showing that they are competent enough to guide the country out of the present mess and ensure stability in the post-Thaksin era.

Whatever the new Cabinet intends to do, the people will not feel at ease if Thaksin and his cronies can still lay their hands on their massive wealth and put it to good use in a bid to regain power. Only by freezing their assets will we make progress in the tough tasks ahead.

It would be awful if the deposed politicians pooled their financial resources and then spent Bt10 billion just to prevent efforts to freeze and eventually seize assets.

In the end, the new chapter of our democracy and the cost of rebuilding our country may include blood in addition to the sweat and tears.

 Sopon Onkgara