The new role of Royal Turf Club secretary-general Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit as the leader of the Pitak Siam group - which recently staged an anti-government mass rally in Bangkok - has prompted political observers to link the military veteran with the <i>ammart</i>, or pro-establishment elites.
The link is understandable. Gen Boonlert is a classmate of Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont, former prime minister of the interim government after the Sept 19, 2006 coup, when they both studied at the Armed Forces Academies Preparatory School's Class 1. The privy councillor is also president of the Royal Turf Club where the Pitak Siam anti-government rally took place.
Both generals have dismissed the alleged links. Yet some observers are still calling Gen Boonlert a new political figure and another Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the core leaders of the yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) movement.
This stems from the presence at the Pitak Siam rally of several anti-Thaksin figures such as Sqn Ldr Prasong Soonsiri, former secretary-general of the National Security Council, Gen Pathompong Kesornsuk, former chief adviser to the Supreme Command, Tul Sitthisomwong, leader of the anti-red shirt multicoloured movement, as well as the "Dharma Army" of Santi Asoke who were familiar faces at PAD-led protests in the past.
Also, Sondhi - though he did not attend the rally - has made it clear that he is lending his support to the protest leader.
In light of this and despite Gen Boonlert declaring that he is not a member of the yellow-shirt movement and that he does not favour the Democrat Party, the leader of Pitak Siam has inadvertently become "the core leader" of people who used to be part of the PAD network.
Gen Boonlert is known for his honesty, kind heartedness, and generosity. As the man at the helm of the Royal Turf Club, he has helped raise money for numerous charities.
Actually he has friends in every political group. But today he has in effect taken the role of an anti-government leader.
"I come with my heart. I can't bear it any longer. I am not a 'nominee' of any group but I must protect the monarchy, and chase away bad politicians," he said.
Gen Boonlert, who previously weathered his own political crises stemming from his role in a failed coup in 1977, is a wealthy retired military officer. His wife is from a rich family in Kanchanaburi. Financially, therefore, he is ready to take the lead.
"I hardly talk to Gen Surayud. We meet once in a while at the club's board meetings. Don't link him to me or vice versa. I am nobody, compared to him," he said when refuting links to Gen Surayud.
However, Panthongtae Shinawatra, the only son of ex-prime minister Thaksin, has used his Facebook postings to highlight such a link and to voice his suspicions about Gen Boonlert.
Amid reports of a weapons seizure in Tachikek on the Thai-Myanmar border ahead of a planned visit to the area by his father, Mr Panthongtae also posted on his Facebook page recollections of the 2004 assassination plot against his father.
This current assassination rumour, however, gave Thaksin the excuse to cancel his planned visit to avoid putting political pressure on the Yingluck government. However, the cancellation has fanned red-shirt anger at the ammart clique, thus increasing the risk of another red-yellow confrontation when the second Pitak Siam rally takes place later this month. If that happens, it may lead to violence - a scenario giving the military an excuse to stage another coup.
Even though the pro-establishment ammart network and Thaksin's political enemies have kept a low profile for the past year, Thaksin has never stopped worrying about plots against his life. Given his constant fear for his safety, it is not certain, therefore, if the recent assassination plot is real or imagined.
It is possible, however, that the leaders of the PAD network have now pinned their hopes on Gen Boonlert assuming a more prominent leadership role amid widespread speculation that both Privy Council president Gen Prem Tinsulanonda and Gen Surayud have minimised theirs. Gen Surayud has even given an interview that he is preparing his own cremation book, signalling his resignation to whatever happens.
Yet, all this is interpreted by their opponents as a political ploy to trick their enemies into thinking that they have washed their hands of politics, when in reality they are waiting for an opportunity to strike back. The same with Thaksin who has never trusted the ammart camp. Undeniably, the "ripples" are still there, ready to accumulate the force that could eventually develop into a political tsunami.
Wassana Nanuam is a senior news reporter covering military affairs for the Bangkok Post.