During a recent meeting with Nation Group editors, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin admitted that he and his fellow coup-makers were amateurish and virtually clueless in various aspects.

Touched by his unassuming attitude, I intended to write a Do's and Don'ts manual for the Council for National Security. I wouldn't have waited this long had I known that in addition to their naivete, these people are also dangerously imprudent fast guns.

Still, hopefully this is of some use. Here's my humble list for the interim leaders and coup-makers of what they must avoid at all costs. (Contrary to what many others think, I'm not so worried about the Do's at the moment, so this part can wait. It's the Don'ts bit that concerns me, because our friends in uniform seem to be already violating it for fun):

Don't give yourselves salaries.

Obviously, this is not in time, so God help them. I had heard rumours but never imagined they would actually do it. What on earth were the coup leaders thinking? I can't figure out any good reason except that they are now so bored with the job already and want to provoke a street protest so as to exit quickly with a good pretext.

Someone in the newsroom saw it as an attempt to "legitimise" the CNS. Well, if that's the case, transport allowances of Bt30,000 should do.

The same level of salary as the prime minister will give anti-coup activists here and abroad an early Christmas gift. I can see all the headlines and punch-lines now. Something like: "Real cost of democracy - Bt890,000 a month for coup-makers".

Yes, there are expenses. But they volunteered, didn't they? Even the much-hated National Peacekeeping Council, which toppled the Chatichai government in 1991 and was the cause of the 1992 political bloodbath, was clever enough to do things discreetly when it came to issues like their own salaries.

And for all the coup advocates, this is egg in the face. Had it not been for interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's stunning apology to Thai Muslims in the deep South over the weekend, this salary madness would make many hang themselves. Having pulled off the smartest political move doesn't mean the interim leaders are entitled to follow it up with the dumbest thing.

Don't give tips-off when it comes to the corruption probe.

Thaksin & Co have been dealt major blows this past week. The Ratchadapisek land scandal, unpaid taxes concerning transferred Ample Rich shares and the staggering iTV fines will appease a lot of impatient critics at least for a while. The investigators, after facing much criticism, are beginning to show they are on the right track, but there have been too many leaks for comfort.

It had been in the news for several days that the investigators were "trying to find" legal documents to prove that Thaksin "endorsed" his wife's bid for government-auctioned land on Ratchadapisek Road. Assuming the investigators weren't in possession of such documents already, that was a very risky leak, considering Thaksin's widespread connections in the bureaucratic system.

Don't mess with "that" charter clause.

This is a precaution, but its importance can't be stressed enough. The coup leaders and interim government must never ever try to change the constitutional principle that the prime minister must come through the election process. Once the political reform process gets going, stay away from this issue. In fact, stay away from the whole procedure.

Anti-coup activists are waiting for the slightest sign that the generals will try to "hold on to power", and the consequences of disobeying this rule can be dire.

Don't make a joke out of the tax probe. Getting the lost revenue money back is nice, but someone must be held responsible for the initial failure to tax the Shinawatras over the Temasek deal. The likes of the Revenue Department director-general or a former finance minister who had insisted that Thaksin's children didn't have to pay taxes must be brought through a due process to testify why they had taken those courses of action.

Don't do a Thaksin.

This is the thousandth time I have said it, yet I'm afraid this will be the most difficult rule to abide by. Give political opponents enough room to stand. Don't bribe or try to buy loyalty.

Most importantly, don't be afraid. In politics, the paranoid do not survive, they just become control freaks and in the process fulfil their own prophecy of doom that everyone is out to get them.

Tulsathit  Taptim