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During his phone-in, Thaksin spoke with heavy sarcasm to attack the Democrat-led coalition. Like his past speeches, he portrayed himself as Thailand's only saviour from the economic woes.

Key organisers, such as Veera Musigapong and Jatuporn Promphan, reiterated an old demand for House dissolution to pave the way for a snap election.

For dramatic effect, and perhaps buoyed by the by-election results in Sakon Nakhon and Si Sa Ket, they set a one-month deadline for the government to comply.

The red-shirt plans, such as fanning the opposition movement and holding a series of political rallies nationwide, were anticipated and not a surprise.

It was not the first time that Veera and Thaksin held a scripted conversation via the phone-in to allude to a royal pardon designed to rescue the ex-premier from his political and legal predicament.

The two brought up the idea of a royal pardon last year at a red-shirt rally held at the indoor stadium in Hua Mark.

Yet friends and foes again made noisy reactions in spite of the fact that the two said nothing new.

In his capacity as the master of ceremony for the phone-in, Veera asked a leading question whether Thaksin was considering his option to petition for a royal pardon.

Right on cue, Thaksin said in his reply, "It is up to His Majesty's kindness."

Veera then proceeded to suggest that he would spearhead the signature campaign to solicit the support of 1 million voters to back Thaksin's petition.

The Thaksin-Veera telephone conversation followed the same script used last year at the indoor stadium phone-in.

The idea of a royal pardon attracted huge publicity last year, although the signature campaign made no real headway. On Saturday, the idea was recirculated and commanded full attention once again from parties concerned.

If last year's signature campaign could be an indication, then it is safe to assume that neither Thaksin nor Veera are serious about the actual campaign launch.

The two just want to find a pretext to take a swipe at the country's revered institution and mock the lese majeste clause at the same time.

When uneducated villagers know how to petition the Royal Palace to address their grievances, it is unthinkable that elites like Thaksin and Veera are so naive on the pardon procedures.

Thaksin can answer for himself why he appears determined to politicise the monarchy although he has been insisting on his unwavering loyalty.

It is evident that Thaksin can manage to sway the sentiment by trying to involve the Royal Palace in his predicament. Will such tactics prove to benefit him or the country in the long run?

By portraying himself as a victim of injustice, he has been lamenting he was ousted from power at the expense of democratic principles.

If a coup is a cardinal sin for a democracy, then how will he justify any attempts, regardless of good or bad intentions, to undermine the monarchy?

If Thaksin is committed to seek royal pardon, then he should know the first step is to humble himself before the rule of law instead of acting like he is above the law.

Former Philippines president Joseph Estrada served time during his graft trial, hence the justification for the pardon following his conviction.

Thaksin's idol Nelson Mandela of South Africa spent decades behind bars before staging a political comeback.

On top of the two-year jail verdict issued last year, Thaksin has yet to be tried for 17 other cases. Assuming each case would last about a year, he should have almost two decades to weigh his options.

The royal pardon can be an option only if he accepts the rule of law. Otherwise he should be reminded that no exiled leader in modern Thai history ever returned alive.