How an eloquent PM got caught tongue-tied

He couldn't walk away from the basic, but nonetheless probing, questions even if he were tempted to - because he knew that he would have to answer them the next day anyway.

This premier has a special flair for responding to questions. In fact, he has demonstrated a high degree of dexterity in sparring with reporters. On Tuesday he stood his ground against salvos from the newsmen. But you could see that he barely made it out of the corner to answer some of the difficult questions.

Words in italics are my comments.

Q: Why did you order the police chief to go down South as soon as he returned from China ahead of schedule?

PM: No, I didn't give him any order. I had actually said in my interview on August 10 that I had received a report that he was going down South for a mission. I was very careful with my wording. When you filed the report, please make sure you quoted me accurately.

What I said was that I had known that he was going on a mission to the South. [But hadn't the PM originally said the police chief was going on extended leave?] But I wasn't the one who gave him the order.

Q: Have you talked to him yet?

PM: No. I haven't talked to him. My understanding is that Deputy Premier Suthep [Thaugsuban] will report to me what the national police chief will be doing in the South.

Q: Why is it that an "acting police chief" is needed when the police chief himself is in fact performing his duties anyway?

PM: [Getting evasive now] The deputy PM will report that to me. So far, I haven't seen the report yet. He has briefed me verbally. But he will have to send me an official report. I will have to consider the reasons given in the report, too. [Didn't he ask for the reasons when he was given the verbal briefing by Suthep? ]

Q: The public is keeping a close watch on your and the police chief's statements and attitudes now that he has come back from China ahead of schedule.

PM: I hadn't known in advance that a typhoon would hit China. So, I have to consider the typhoon factor. He had personally said he would return on August 11. And if you check your tape, I had said that he would come back during August 11-12 because he wanted to participate in the important Queen's birthday functions. He reported that if he had left China later than that, he would have been stuck there because of the storm. That's why he was back earlier than previously scheduled. That's all there is to it. Nothing else.

[My questions: Who did he seek permission from - and who did he inform in advance - when he decided to cut short his visit to China, knowing that his premature reappearance could be politically sensitive?

Why was it a surprise to the PM and deputy PM, his two supposed direct bosses?]

Q: [Having failed to get a clear answer, a reporter tried again, by rephrasing the same question] Isn't it strange and self-contradictory that the police chief is back in the country now and you have to appoint an acting chief simply because he has gone South on a normal mission?

PM: [Uncharacteristically avoiding a direct answer to a simple, direct question] I have asked [Deputy PM] Suthep about this and his answer was that it's normal practice - if one is on a mission and cannot carry out his official functions.

Q: Does that mean that if the prime minister goes on a provincial trip, an acting premier would have to be appointed in his place in Bangkok?

PM: [Getting even more defensive and apparently incoherent]: This government follows all the rules and regulations. We have not broken any law. If I go to the provinces, it all depends on whether I can still perform the prime minister's tasks or not [to warrant an acting premier].

Police Chief Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwan might have fled the devastating Typhoon Morakot just in time to create a tempest at home.

But it was Prime Minister Abhisit who was eventually caught in the eye of the storm.