I'm really amazed at how the Yingluck Shinawatra-led government is capable of ticking people off even as she presents her innocent-looking and ever-smiling face to the world.
Look at the way the Pheu Thai-controlled parliament passed the amnesty bill at an ungodly hour.
That ticked people off big time. Forget the hot air from Government House that it was parliament's business and had nothing to do with the government itself. That's just bull and everybody knows it.
The populist rice-pledging scheme is another example of the government shrugging its shoulders at its critics, well meaning or not, even as the scheme's losses are spiralling out of sight.
The government's latest shenanigans emerged from the Senate. It was in such a hurry to spend two trillion baht of taxpayers' money and put every citizen and their as-yet-unborn children in debt for the next 50 years that it pushed through the transport infrastructure bill about 3am on Wednesday.
Amid the uproar over the blanket amnesty bill, the government managed to slip through the constitutional amendment to Section 190 which would give the government carte blanche authority to commit the country to almost all international agreements without prior consent of the legislature.
Meanwhile, overshadowed by the political drama in the capital are minor uprisings in the provinces where so-called public hearings are being held on the 350-billion-baht water management project.
This project is an excellent example of a public scheme that was poorly executed from the start. Everything about it is just plain wrong, from the way it was cooked up as a master plan for water management; to the way the budget was allocated and contractors acquired, and the way constitutionally required public participation has been conducted.
This is arguably the most insidious public project under the Yingluck administration because of its possible deleterious effects on the environment as well as the livelihoods and way of life of local communities nationwide.
As if that is not bad enough, it is presided over by one of the most arrogant public servants Thailand has had the misfortune to have.
Not content with throwing insults at his critics, having called opponents to the water project "garbage", Deputy Prime Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi has also thrown social and legal decency to the wind in his attempt to prevent opponents from having their say at forums to gauge public opinions on the project.
Mr Plodprasop initially planned to hold just a few hearings in a meagre attempt to comply with the law. But he was forced by an administrative court order to hold such forums in all provinces because of the project's expected severe impacts.
But like a child throwing a tantrum, he chose to put up a shameful front by reducing the so-called public hearings to a public farce.
People interested in taking part in the hearings are required to register online or at district or provincial offices, in effect precluding the vast majority of local people. Accusations have been made that an organised campaign was set up with officials' support to help register project supporters.
Opponents were allotted a small number of seats in the main hearing hall. There, participants were given minimum details of the project affecting their localities, and each person wishing to air his or her opinions was given just five minutes to speak.
After a couple of hearings, organisers decided on a shameful tack to weaken their critics, notably to break up participants into smaller groups meeting in separate rooms.
At each hearing, massive police forces were mobilised to guard the venue to prevent people who failed to register from entering. Not surprisingly, those included most of the opponents.
Supporters were mobilised to confront opponents, dangerously raising tensions. In Chiang Mai, opponents from hill tribe groups were verbally abused by people identified as belonging to local red-shirt groups. In Kamphaeng Phet, a minor tussle between opponents and the police ensued, and two leading opponents were briefly held in police custody. They were released after the pictures of their arrest went viral on social media.
Most recently, in Phichit and Phitsanulok, opponents were denied entrance to the hearing venues. Mr Plodprasop, who tried to be present at all staged forums, was greeted by whistle-blowing protesters. The obstacles thrown up by Mr Plodprasop and the public hearing organisers are legally questionable and will possibly be challenged in court.
The aim was to discourage villagers opposing the project from assembling to protest but so far it has achieved the opposite result. At each hearing, it seems opponents have grown in number, and it seems, too, that they no longer care if they are allowed into the venue because they have learned that their presence makes no difference to the predetermined outcome.
The public dissent displayed at these venues is remarkable in the way it demonstrates the maturing of political consciousness among people upcountry.
Thai people, by nature, don't like to tangle with authorities unless they have good reasons. And they have some very good reasons to oppose this project because their livelihoods and way of life are at stake.
In many instances, their land and the environment that provides their livelihoods will be wiped out. I would put up a stiff fight if my livelihood and way of life were threatened, and I have more options and opportunities than most of the affected villagers. In most cases, their land is the only means of living they've got. And even if they can hold on to their land, the loss of the surrounding natural environment would deprive them of their means of livelihood.
Mr Plodprasop is not a mandarin in an empress's court, who can thumb his nose at the law and the public who pays his salary with impunity. The farce must end, and a proper, meaningful public participation process be introduced in its place.
Wasant Techawongtham is a former News Editor for the Bangkok Post.