Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung yesterday appeared to have reached the end of his tether, venting his frustration over the prospect of being shunted to the post of labour minister in the cabinet reshuffle expected soon.
His anger was directed in particular at Pol Col Thawee Sodsong, secretary-general of the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre, whom Mr Chalerm said was behind his transfer.
Learning his fate had been sealed, Mr Chalerm yesterday launched a broadside against those he believed were to blame for him losing his post. Mr Chalerm, who currently oversees national security, would be moved to become labour minister in the fifth cabinet reshuffle of the Yingluck government.
Justice Minister Pol Gen Pracha Promnok is expected to replace him.
Mr Chalerm yesterday chaired a meeting at the Royal Thai Police headquarters to lay down policies to the force.
At one point during the meeting, Mr Chalerm talked about the speculation over his transfer.
He said he was not upset about the possible transfer. "In politics, you cannot expect anyone to love you," he said.
After being assigned by the prime minister to head the Centre for Implementation of Policies and Strategies for Solving Problems in the Far South, Mr Chalerm said he met the military to seek their seal of approval, and they had accepted his role.
Afterwards, the government assigned Pol Col Thawee to hold talks with Hassan Taib, lead negotiator of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN). Efforts were also made to arrange for Ms Yingluck to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to pave the way for talks with the BRN.
Mr Chalerm said Pol Col Thawee never listened to him. Mr Chalerm claimed that Pol Col Thawee ignored his committee trying to solve the southern problems and also the military.
Pol Col Thawee failed to inform the committee of the demands made by the BRN, but instead released the information to reporters, Mr Chalerm said.
"If ai [particle indicating contempt in Thai] Thawee does not respect me, so be it. But he must respect the committee. If he is not satisfied with me, just lobby for my transfer. Eventually, he managed to do just that.
"He told lies [about me] to [ousted premier] Thaksin [Shinawatra] and Yingluck, which has resulted in me being transferred in the cabinet.
"Thawee lied that I opened and operated gambling dens and this had upset police.
"I curse anyone who said untrue things about me. May bad things befall all their family members for seven generations.
"Let me say that ai Thawee is partly to blame for the government's difficulty in handling the southern problems.
"If the prime minister is still dissatisfied with me and transfers me, so be it. In Thai politics, nobody wants to quarrel with [the late] Samak [Sundaravej] and me. They'll regret taking the wrong medicine," Mr Chalerm said.
He said Thai politics is now reaching breaking point. Over the past two years, he said the prime minister has been able to survive difficulties but the Pheu Thai Party has faced problems arising from the rice-pledging and 350-billion-baht water management schemes.