Streetwise: SMS let-down a taste of things to come?

   On Thursday, the entire Kingdom was thrilled when millions of mobile-phone users received the SMS from "Your PM". The prime minister urged all to reply to the SMS and promised to call all those who replied. Yet, on Friday, he said it's impossible for his IVR (interactive voice response) toreach all those who had replied to the SMS.

   The process was indeed complicated, involving three mobile-phone operators - Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication and True Move. All three sent the SMS to millions of users on behalf of the PM. They were also bound to send the thank you note back to those who had replied to the SMS, containing the message that the PM would contact them shortly.

   It was estimated that more than 10,000 people replied to the SMS, with the expectation that they would soon be contacted by the PM, even though through a recorded voice. Certainly, some of them would be disappointed.

Indeed, this could be just the first disappointment involving Abhisit.

   On Friday, even when the Cabinet line-up had not been officially announced, Pramon Sutivong, chairman of the Board of Trade of Thailand and Thai Chamber of Commerce, showed his disappointment. Probably because of his pressure, the line-up was changed and Industry Minister candidate Ranongruk Suwanchawee was shifted to the ICT Ministry.

   Despite some changes, Abhisit came in for criticism over the Cabinet formation. To be fair, all recent governments have received similar criticism. In a way, it proved that though many Thais want to be politicians, only a few ably climbed the ladder to become ministers.

   Yet, Abhisit has a disadvantage compared to former prime ministers like Samak Sundaravej and Somchai Wongsawat. Because of his good education and untainted track record as a politician, the public perceives him as an angel politician who is supposed to fly higher than the devil politicians.

   As such, the business community and the public have high hopes that the Abhisit government would sail the country through the current crisis. The task is of one of huge difficulty and the chance of success is slim. As his policies will not bring joy to all, he stands to get more criticism. Notably, the next ones could be more heart-breaking than the one involving the SMS.