After four years as elected head of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, outgoing Governor Samak Sundaravej is a person many people love to hate.

He was ridiculed over his passion for cooking, with his detractors saying he seemed at his best when appearing as a TV chef, rather than heading up city hall.

His absence during difficult times _ such as floods, fires and other crises _ disillusioned many people, including his supporters.

Mr Samak's old-fashioned style of management set him against civic groups and activists who advocate public participation, from the very start.

But he was praised by many city officials as an ideal boss who treated them with respect.

As governor he received full cooperation from city officials when he launched city hall's one-stop service at all district offices. The service was billed as his major achievement.

His working relationships with the City Council has been more harmonious than his predecessors, even though the legislative body is dominated by the Democrats and Thai Rak Thai.

Even so, Mr Samak is leaving office with a lot of unfinished business.

These incomplete initiatives include a plan to extend the mass transit network to cover Samut Prakan, Thon Buri and Don Muang, a planned underground parking lot at Sanam Luang and a housing project for low-income people in Klong Toey.

His plan to tear down old buildings in Tha Tian area to open visual space hit a snag when it failed to get the approval of the landlord, the Crown Property Bureau.

His corn-cob apartment scheme, aimed at middle-income people, is pretty much a flop with only one project implemented, in Ramkhamhaeng area.

Somsuk Bunyabancha, director of the Community Organisation Development Institute, said the scheme was not a success because there was too much commercial real estate available. However, she praised him for caring about the housing problem.

``It would be better if the city was to focus on low income groups or slum dwellers,'' she said.

Orathai Kokpol, political science lecturer at Thammasat University, said Mr Samak had been hampered by the political structure which gives him only limited authority.

The real power is in the hands of the central government, the lecturer said. ``To be fair, I guess other governors may not be able to do any better than Mr Samak under the present circumstances,'' she said.

The current government did not care much about the BMA or the city governor. Many projects in the city were developed by the central government itself, while lack of support from the government had delayed several city projects, including the planned hygienic slaughterhouses.

She agreed the administration under Mr Samak has stagnated, as he paid little attention, if any, to civil society.

``The city administration during his four-year term has been lackluster, with several cases of human rights violations. Public participation, unlike during the term of former governor Bhichit Rattakul, has been limited,'' Ms Orathai said.

Mr Samak's handling of the city's art centre, a project initiated by Mr Bhichit, landed him in trouble with civic groups who opposed his commercial shopping mall idea.

Although his good working relationship with the city officials has been his strength, attempts to maintain harmony have resulted in a backlash in certain cases, particularly his vow to root out corruption among city inspectors, or thetsakit.

When he entered office in 2000, Mr Samak promised to take better care of city vendors, to protect them from unscrupulous city inspectors who demand extortion fees, and to lift a ban on Wednesday sales which was imposed by his predecessor Chamlong Srimuang. He made little headway fulfilling the promise of protection.

A row over a TV report showing city inspectors continuing to extort vendors in Ratchaprasong area concluded at the expense of food vendors. Mr Samak closed down the area for trading, turning it into a miniature park and blocking the vendors from the area.

At the same time, his giving vendors permission to trade seven days a week drew criticism from city pedestrians who complained the streets were dirty and disorderly as the number of vendors doubled from 30,000 to 60,000.

Some academics said the public could not dismiss Mr Samak's decisiveness, which enabled the city administration, with approval from the City Council, to increase garbage collection fees early this year.

He also has been strong in his determination to push for wastewater treatment collection fees. But this effort has been halted by technical problems.

Thongchai Panswad, a renowned environmentalist, said Mr Samak deserves full credit for putting into place those collection fees, which are based on the polluter pays principle.

Mr Samak, however, says he is less stubborn than most people think. He had cancelled a city waste incinerator scheme at the request of the public and NGOs. The garbage station in Bang Sue is also being relocated to Nong Khaem area as demanded by the local community and the City Council.

But whatever they may think of him, this is certainly not the last the people of Bangkok will hear from Mr Samak. He has already said he plans to run for the Senate in 2006.