Nothing prepared viewers at home for a live broadcast at a boxing event of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who has once again ruffled quite a few feathers.
Thaksin: Unhappy with airing of images
Social media pages were flooded with mostly hostile comments in the wake of Thaksin's speech at the Thai boxing match in Macau.
The speech provoked virulent criticism of how the former premier had used the occasion to honour His Majesty the King while at the same time pillorying his opponents for engineering his fall from grace.
State-run Channel 11, which carried the broadcast, was also criticised for letting him go on air. However, the buck did not stop there.
Many netizens demanded Prime Minister's Office Minister Sansanee Nakpong step forward and take responsibility.
The minister supervises the Public Relations Department, which owns the government channel.
One comment left on the internet asked how taxpayers' money could be squandered propping up a government-owned channel which allowed a fugitive on air.
Ms Sansanee, however, said she could hardly be held to account for the broadcast, as her job description dictates that she oversee the broad policies of the PRD.
She had no business picking through details of what is being shown on the channel.
But her explanation did not go down well with some of her critics who maintained she should have done better.
They argued that for a person of Thaksin's stature to be speaking in a live programme on a state-owned channel, senior executives must have had prior knowledge of it.
If Ms Sansanee was genuinely unaware, that would raise some serious questions about her ability to manage the PRD, according to her critics who said the minister is expected to possess enough political finesse to know better.
Ms Sansanee gave up a long career as a TV anchorwoman to enter politics and came under the wing of Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan, a source said.
The politician who leased the time slot in which the broadcast was aired is linked to political circles in Bang Na district which Ms Sansanee once represented as an MP, the source said.
Ms Sansanee was criticised for another broadcast recently, when the channel aired live images of anti-government Pitak Siam demonstrators being tear-gassed by riot police in the middle of Bangkok.
It was reported that Thaksin was far from pleased the images had been allowed on air.
The government succeeded in containing the demonstrators. But the images of police using tear gas against the protesters made the government look bad, as the demonstrators claimed they were unarmed.
Ms Sansanee, it would seem, has yet to rise to the challenge of being a minister in charge of such an influential portfolio.
Can Kwanchai break CDD hex?
Kwanchai: On the way up in Interior Ministry
The Community Development Department (CDD) can be a stepping stone for senior officials who impress their political masters.
The department is regarded as a training ground for aspiring officials who are proteges of influential politicians, said a source at the Interior Ministry, which supervises the CDD.
They learn about local administration and are typically moved to the seat of director-general in higher-profile agencies such as the Provincial Administration Department.
As the CDD is perceived by some to be a ''passing through'' agency, its directors-general have in recent times been in the job for a mere six to 10 months before they are either promoted or shifted to inactive posts. The incumbent CDD director-general, Kwanchai Wongnitikorn, has been in the job for a little over a month.
Numerous reshuffles of CDD chiefs were noted during the Thaksin Shinawatra administrations. Some believe the high turnover of people at the top indicates the department is hexed.
Others believe politics has more to do with it.
In some cases, CDD chiefs were offered top jobs at prestigious departments if they impressed the powers-that-be.
Some CDD bosses, however, go the other way and end up in the less active post of inspector-general if politicians judge them to be inadequate.
However, if the department was ever hexed, Mr Kwanchai could be the one to break the spell.
Mr Kwanchai has had a roller coaster ride of a career. Before his elevation to CDD head, he served as deputy interior permanent secretary and chief of the Local Administration Department.
He later returned as deputy interior permanent secretary prior to his appointment as the CDD director-general.
The department is in charge of policy for the One Tambon One Product (Otop) scheme, which has brought its work renewed attention.
The focus has been further heightened by the special attention given to Otop by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The attention could throw Mr Kwanchai the political lifeline he might need to stay on as CDD head or even move up the career ladder, a political source said.
Ms Yingluck is said to be particularly fond of Otop merchandise. The premier regularly makes private and official visits to Otop fairs organised by the CDD in Bangkok and the provinces.
She is also pushing for Otop goods to compete in world markets.
Mr Kwanchai has been responsive to the Otop policy, prompting speculation he could be on his way to the higher echelons in the Interior Ministry.
Damrong gets cool reception
Damrong: Preparing new party for election
The newly formed Thai Forest Land Reclamation Party has been given a lukewarm reception by political watchers suspicious of the party leader's ties to the Pheu Thai Party.
The party was founded by Damrong Pidech, the former chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.
While for some critics, his name suggests a cosy association with movers and shakers of the ruling party, one party source noted Mr Damrong has no close ties to the person that really matters - Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
This is despite Mr Damrong's outstanding performance in demolishing resorts which encroached on forest land in Thap Lan National Park in Prachin Buri.
But Mr Damrong does enjoy a personal link with Yongyuth Tiyapairat, a former natural resources and environment minister who is also a prominent figure close to the Pheu Thai Party.
He was among the 109 executives banned from politics for five years for collusion in electoral fraud which caused the dissolution of the People Power Party. Mr Yongyuth has a strong political presence in his native Chiang Rai where Mr Damrong started his career in forestry.
Mr Damrong used to work under the late Princess Mother's development projects on Doi Thung, where he met Mr Yongyuth.
He was eventually appointed chief of the national parks department, with full support from Mr Yongyuth.
But before he was named the parks department chief, he was installed as head of the Department of Coastal Marine Resources, with the backing of Natural Resources and Environment Minister Preecha Rengsomboonsuk.
Mr Preecha was also supported by Mr Damrong to rise to the ministerial post.
The source said it was not surprising that while Mr Damrong was the department chief, Mr Preecha left the reshuffle of staff and key departmental decisions up to Mr Damrong.
Mr Damrong had a free hand in pursuing prosecution of resorts and individuals encroaching on national parks.
However, relations between Mr Damrong and Mr Preecha later soured as a result of delays in the appointment of Mr Damrong's replacement as chief of the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Mr Damrong is now retired.
According to the source, Mr Damrong was unhappy with the environment minister who refused to name deputy national parks chief, Ruengchai Prayoonvej, as the department head.
The source said some Pheu Thai figures preferred not to see the department run by a ''second Damrong'', which they thought was possible if Mr Ruengchai was given the job.
The party members thought the department's drastic action against forest encroachment risked undermining its political support base.
It had been speculated for some time that Mr Damrong might be promoted to deputy environment minister in the previous cabinet reshuffle.
When he did not make it to the cabinet, Mr Damrong decided to set up the Thai Forest Land Reclamation Party.
It will not contest constituencies but will focus only on the party list.
Mr Damrong said if his party wins list seats in an election, it will carry on where he left off as department chief - protecting and preserving natural resources.
He is now in the process of preparing his party for an election.