If they entertain the belief that such attempts will continue to have significant political impact and revive Thaksin's popularity, enabling him to return to power, it is wishful thinking.

The ongoing investigations into many allegations of corruption and criminal wrongdoing will soon lead to solid cases for prosecution. That will be a real stopper for the Thaksins' show to extract international sympathy and possible assistance in putting pressure on the Surayud administration.

Formal criminal charges should transform Thaksin's status from "politician in exile" into "fugitive" who could be brought back home with the cooperation of Interpol or other means. At that time, it will not matter whether his homecoming is voluntary or not.

Until that moment, his admirers and political supporters still have their day pestering the CNS and the Surayud government with weekend rallies at Sanam Luang and demands for an end to martial law, the restoration of democracy and a general election.

These admirers include foreign businessmen who stand to lose a lot of sweetheart deals. These people strongly condemned the coup and the ouster of Thaksin while refusing to see the structural decay of the country, the fake democracy, the rampant corruption, cronyism and abuse of power under his regime.

They will soon get what they are asking for. The CNS is supposed to revoke martial law before the end of the year after solid criminal cases are filed against Thaksin and his family members, who now have more than a fair share of disgrace and messy legal troubles.

Would Thaksin be willing to come home and face criminal charges under due legal process? If that is the case, he has to stand trial and will have his day in court with rousing support and rallies by his admirers.

There will be long and tortuous proceedings, with more cases being piled up to engage Thaksin, keeping him busy with his defence team instead of giving him a lot of free time for shopping and regaining grass-roots support.

There will be a package of criminal charges against Thaksin's family members, including his wife, son and daughter. Others will be forthcoming with their own charges of mischief-making and graft.

We shall then see examples of blind faith in a man who stands accused of a wide range of corruption and wrongdoing. The CNS has come up with a "white paper" to explain to the world its reasons for staging the coup to oust Thaksin, in an attempt to dilute the man's portrayal of himself as a hapless victim of military power.

Why do his admirers and supporters continue to be fascinated and charmed by Thaksin despite news reports of massive corruption and other misdeeds through abuse of power over five years? The Democrat Party has even come out with a set of "black papers", detailing 44 cases of wide-ranging corruption and wrongdoing.

It is a great wonder that Thaksin's admirers fail to see and realise the extent of damage their political idol inflicted on the country through authoritarian tendencies and unsavoury practices camouflaged as democracy and benevolence.

What's more, even the members of Thaksin's own Thai Rak Thai party have jumped ship, abandoning their boss for their own survival. Bought or forced loyalty does not last long in gutter politics.

Are Thaksin's admirers blind to the fact that their idol, his family members and his circle of cronies are being investigated for various cases of wrongdoing? Of course, they can argue that people are innocent until proven otherwise in court.

Smart talk, indeed, but public perception to the contrary is based on blatantly wrongful acts and so much information that is already in the news and is serving as the legal basis for criminal prosecution. Thaksin and his cronies can have their day in court. They surely don't want justice, but freedom by any means possible.

After being jumpy for two months, the CNS and the Surayud government appear to be gaining composure. Those were eight weeks on the learning curve, a crash course in how to deal with cunning politicians with a lot of money and power.

They took pains not to take the short cuts of frozen assets or kangaroo-court proceedings and instead chose to conduct investigations with the active cooperation of those who understand Thaksin's ways of doing things.

A general election can wait until political reforms are completed. It is no use letting the same bunch of Thaksin's cronies and ex-party members back in Parliament without paying the dues of karma. Otherwise life would be too good for them.

Sopon Onkgara