Once labelled a heroine on the frontline against corruption allegedly widespread during the reign of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Auditor-General Jaruvan Maintaka has, it would seem, become a problem child for the ruling junta.

The Auditor-General Office's solid record of scrutinising the Thaksin government's schemes related to graft scandals have undoubtedly won the public's respect, for her courage and honesty.

Hence, the ruling Council for National Security (CNS) picked Jaruvan to sit on its freshly-launched Assets Examination Committee (AEC) shortly after the coup of September 19.

Their message was clear. Thaksin was corrupt. He had abused his power to boost his wealth. A fearless AEC would freeze his assets - and eventually seize them.

Jaruvan immediately became the most active of the 11 members. Which raised the question of whether her appointment was really what the junta needed to get "hard evidence" to back the coup's main rationale that the Thaksin government was the most corrupt in modern Thailand's history.

Some of the coup leaders, and some of her colleagues, might not think so now.

Her self-esteem is sky-high since she believes she is right in any situation. Whoever stands in her way could find himself or herself in trouble.

A recent example was the case of former AEC chairman Sawat Chotephanich, who had a "different idea" from Jaruvan over the investigation of the Shin Corp's sell-out to Singapore's Temasek Holdings.

The ex-chairman insisted the panel had no authority to do the job while Jaruvan said she wanted to handle the case.

The rift caused Sawat to quit the AEC after Jaruvan lobbied the CNS to change the AEC board.

Just last week, Jaruvan went further by opening a new battle front with Deputy PM and Finance Minister MR Pridiyathorn Devakula, whom she believes has attempted to protect the legacy of the deposed premier Thaksin.

Pridiyathorn has retained the two- and three-digit lottery and its jackpot prize.

He did not replace Sirote Swasdipanich, director-general of the Revenue Department, who was strongly criticised for "failing" to collect tax from the Shinawatra family on the Shin Corp deal.

Moreover, Pridiyathorn has defended Thaksin's wife Pojaman over her purchase of a plot of land on Ratchadaphisek Road from the Asset Management Corporation, the case the AEC has sharpened its knife on to punish the wrongdoers allegedly involved with Thaksin.

Jaruvan then attacked Pridiyathorn by asking the government to take action against 14 government executives who sat on more than three state-enterprise boards. The deputy PM is one of them.

Pridiyathorn's opponent Sondhi Limthongkul is said to have given Jaruvan all the information about the deputy PM's violation of regulations, as he knew that she could not resist the temptation of  "spreading" the issue all over the media.

Some AEC members admit that, although they admire Jaruvan and accept her talent, they find it hard to deal with her ego.

"She trusts no one," one anonymous AEC member said. "She will keep an eye on every little piece of evidence, no matter what it is."

While the CNS is desperately attempting to restore its image as a self-proclaimed "democratic regime" that has recently been ruined by the power struggle among its allies, and with no progress in the assets scrutiny, Jaruvan appears to have become a new problem for the junta.

As one AEC member was recently quoted as saying: "Fighting with Thaksin is hard. But fighting with Jaruvan is harder."

Sucheera Pinijparakarn

The Nation