But what precisely is it?

Asked for a definition, Council of National Security (CNS) chief, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, described this threat as "a new danger not found in textbooks".

He said it's nothing like the security threats of the past such as border violations or narcotics trafficking. However, General Sonthi did not point specifically to the series of bombings on New Year's Eve or the subsequent series of bomb threats directed against certain targets in the capital.

He then added to the confusion by explaining: "It's a threat that comes with vote-buying in elections and the rural people's lack of understanding about democracy and appreciation of the sufficiency economy principle."

But was he talking about the same "new threat" that Premier Surayud Chulanont discussed? Perhaps he was, but then again maybe not. The premier was specifically referring to the string of explosive incidents in the city when he said: "This [type of incident] won't be taking place just during this period of time. We have to be prepared, both physically and mentally, for this sort of new threat to the people's lives for the next one or two months …"

But, in the eyes of the more critical political pundits, this "new kind of danger" may come in a different form.

If military coups were considered an old, even primitive, type of threat, could we then say that this new kind of threat may come in the form of a "self-coup"?

The September 19 putsch has been branded by some of the people who advocated it as a futile "gentleman's coup", because the military officers who undertook the high-risk exercise have so far failed to take the kind of tough action expected of them against the sins of the Thaksin regime. The irony is obvious. The coup-makers are now being branded "too democratic". Hence the rumour that, stung by such criticism, the September 19 chieftains might be considering a new coup - against themselves. In other words, it would be a "real coup" to follow-up on the "soft coup". To me, that could very well fit Premier Surayud's reference to a new kind of threat against the country. Two wrong decisions don't make a right one.

But then was Surayud referring to the threat of a possible counter-coup led by another group of military leaders who felt that they had been sidelined by the first one?

Or perhaps in the end, the real "new threat" is the influence money has over the armed forces.

The Nation Group Editor Thepchai Yong asked General Sonthi point blank in a live television programme the morning after an evening filled with the latest counter-coup rumours last week: "Can money buy the military?"

The coup-leader said: "This is an important factor. I must make sure ideology has more influence."

Are there still attempts to buy the armed forces? "I am sure it's still going on but I am also sure that it can't be done," Sonthi said.

Perhaps, the "new kind of threat" is that despite his belief, General Sonthi can't tell us where his confidence stems from - or, even more importantly, what's being done to make the new generation of military leaders immune against the allure of money politics?

But the real "new threat" may be subtler than anything that has been previously mentioned. This new threat may, for all intents and purposes, result from the confusion between "dictatorship" and "decisiveness?"

Thaksin was supposed to have been democratically elected, but he was ousted because he was running the country as an autocrat.

General Sonthi's path to power was technically, and indisputably, dictatorial. However, now his critics say his main fault is that he is "too democratic".

Worse still, he is being seen by some of his staunchest supporters as being a "wimp" in the face of growing challenges from those whose corrupt behaviour gave him the excuse to stage the coup in the first place.

This paradox, then, is the real "new kind of threat". It's not in the textbook. It defies theoretical analysis. It's more deafening than the series of bombs in the city and it may, after all, constitute the real and present danger that everybody has been too afraid to mention so far.

Suthichai Yoon