Thai politics has long been unpredictable and full of bombshells, but it's hard to match the role and behaviour of some of the senators in the Upper House in the latest political stalemate.
Some have become overbearing in exercising Section 272 -- a controversial provision in the charter that permits to play a major role in picking the new prime minister. Almost three months after the May 14 election, we still have no idea who the nation's 30th prime minister will be or what the new coalition will look like.
Not that it is unusual for a coalition to take a long time to form. Even democratic Western countries can spend months -- or over a year in the case of Belgium -- to form a coalition. But Thailand takes the biscuit.
Indeed, the Move Forward Party (MFP) and Pheu Thai -- the winner and first runner-up in the general election, respectively -- tried to form a coalition within a week of the poll.
Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the MFP, would already have been confirmed as the prime minister under previous charters. Yet Section 272 of the junta-revamped constitution permits the Senate to play a hand in picking the next prime minister. That is, on condition the coalition fails to muster over half of the 750 seats, or at least 376 votes, to endorse their PM candidate. The former coalition bloc only mustered 312 votes and was ultimately blocked by the Senate.
The senators reasoned they could not make Mr Pita the next PM because of his steadfast policy to amend Section 112. Subsequently, some raised a new condition: that they would not vote for any coalition that included the MFP due to its stated goal of revising the time-honoured lese majeste law.
The latest target is Pheu Thai's PM candidate, Srettha Thavisin. The senators again questioned him about his loyalty after a news clip showed him endorsing changes to Section 112. The Senate concluded they would only vote for him if he promised not to touch this law. With the senators taking such a position on Section 112, the monarchy has been politicised like never before.
But their demands go beyond this.
Today, the Upper House's committee on political development will debate the accusations against Mr Srettha. The most serious claim has been made by former massage parlour tycoon Chuvit Kamolvisit regarding an alleged case of land tax evasion during his tenure at Sansiri, the real estate developer he co-founded. The question is whether the Upper House will have time to make the right judgement on such a politicised accusation.
The media, public and political pundits alike are starting to look at some senators with doubt.
Some senators are bolder in making political comments that favour certain candidates. Last week, Sen Jadet Insawang pledged he would "grill" Mr Srettha while openly predicting that the next prime minister could come from "outside" people.
Two days ago, Sen Kittisak Rattanawaraha hinted that if Pheu Thai's candidate fails, it must be time for Bhumjaithai and the Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) to form a coalition and nominate a PM of their own. They placed third and fourth in the election. Yesterday, he was quoted as saying the next PM will likely not come from Pheu Thai.
It seems the Senate has crossed a line. Many months ago, several senators pledged that their choice of PM would align with the majority vote. Apparently, they failed to stick to their guns. Their recent behaviour suggests they do not respect the people's mandate.