A chorus of criticism is circulating accusing Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha of being out of touch with reality and underestimating the gravity of the Covid-19 crisis.
The latest political figure to fire a broadside was Kla Party leader Korn Chatikavanij when he took to his Facebook to describe what may be the biggest impediment in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, which has sickened thousands of people and killed more than a hundred each day these past few weeks.
Despite calls from anti-government camps for Gen Prayut to step down as prime minister, he has refused to budge, insisting he has no time or desire to contemplate throwing in the towel.
A political observer said ousting Gen Prayut through a popular revolt on the streets has a near-zero chance of succeeding.
If history serves any lesson, a changing of the guard of such political magnitude has almost always come from within by means of coalition parties pulling their support for the ruling party.
At this point in time, no major rifts among the coalition partners are plainly visible although undercurrents have been detected between the ruling Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) and its coalition allies, the Democrat and the Bhumjaithai parties.
A reported plan forged by the PPRP in May to appoint its secretary-general Capt Thamanat Prompow to oversee a Covid-19 coordination effort in the three southernmost provinces left the Democrats peeved.
The PPRP move aroused deep suspicion within the Democrat Party as the ruling party was understood to be making inroads in a region where the Democrats command vast electoral support.
However, before the issue had the chance to explode into an all-out conflict, Gen Prayut stepped in to defuse simmering tensions by overturning Capt Thamanat's appointment.
The Democrat Partyb at the time was not prepared to take the issue lying down and cried foul and insisted the PPRP's actions must be addressed properly.
With Bhumjaithai, its beef with the PPRP is quite fresh.
Bhumjaithai list MP and party registrar Supachai Jaisamut saw red the other week over party leader, Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also public health minister, being the scapegoat for the vaccine procurement fiasco.
Setting the record straight, Mr Supachai insisted the power to import and distribute vaccines had been shifted from Mr Anutin to the prime minister who directs the Centre for Covid-19 Administration Centre -- the ultimate authority in deciding affairs related to vaccine procurement.
The observer said no one in the PPRP had explained publicly Mr Anutin's true position in the vaccine issue which would have helped clear up any misunderstanding regarding the Bhumjaithai leader's involvement in procurement.
Now that the deepening Covid-19 crisis has chiselled away at the government's popularity, the prime minister's centralised approach to tackling the pandemic has led to a new threat that adds insult to injury regarding the administration's predicament and the infection situation.
Korn: Red tape choking people
On his Facebook page, Mr Korn warned that centralisation of bureaucratic power was choking people already on their deathbeds.
The former finance minister noted that many measures have been devised to rein in the pandemic, but few have yielded results with people finding public health assistance and care inaccessible, for which bureaucracy is mostly to blame.
Red tape has held back what should have been a timely crisis response. A delay in treatment even for a day could mean life and death for a lot of Covid-19 sufferers.
He urged the government to do away with the cumbersome bureaucracy so superfluous processes can be bypassed and help sped up.
Mr Korn said he wrote an open letter to Gen Prayut outlining specific, practical recommendations to ease the surging Covid-19 caseload.
Mr Korn said the anti-viral drug favipiravir must be made more widely available to treat Covid-19 patients in the early stages of infection.
Much wider distribution of antigen test kits was needed to alleviate the bottleneck created by the wait for RT-PCR test results.
Also, home isolation programmes, which come in handy for limiting transmission and taking the pressure off hospitals and field hospitals facing bed shortages, must be easier to set up and operate.
He added the government must quickly transfer its Covid-19 management power to local administrative organisations familiar with local problems so they have enough authority at their disposal to utilise resources and manpower for effective and tailored actions to deal with the Covid-19 crisis in their communities.
Mr Korn added the vaccination drive was in need of a revamp with the private sector delivering jabs to accelerate coverage.
He observed that around 300,000 people are inoculated daily during weekdays. However, the daily number drops to 80,000 at weekends because state medical workers providing the jabs are off duty.
Car mobs gun engines
Political observers are tuning in to today's political rallies to demand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's resignation with many believing that the anti-government protesters will go after the embattled premier with all guns blazing.
The government is seen at its wits' end trying to contain the most severe wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The daily caseload has exceeded 20,000 despite strict lockdown measures and a curfew, first launched in 10 provinces including Bangkok and now expanded to 29, for two weeks.
In the face of a limited supply of vaccines and the prevalence of the highly transmissible Delta variant, it is anybody's guess when the current outbreak will level off, according to political observers.
Today's rallies will proceed in a similar fashion. Known as "car mob" rallies, the anti-government protesters will drive around the capital in cars and on motorcycles honking their horns to symbolically voice displeasure at Gen Prayut's handling of the virus situation.
This form of rally is a tactic employed by the protesters to tiptoe their way around the Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings and keeping a good distance from each other in the country's worst wave.
The protesters insist they are not holding packed gatherings of people. Instead, they keep themselves in the confines of their cars, which allows them to avoid close interpersonal contact.
To dissuade anti-government protesters from going ahead, the government has imposed a fresh order ahead of today's planned demonstrations to prohibit all mass gatherings including rallies and protests.
Issued in line with the emergency decree declared since last year to support the disease control efforts, the new restriction threatens to slap those who disobey with a two-year jail sentence.
Worachai: May skip rally
Currently, a ban on gatherings of five people and other activities that risk spreading the virus is enforced in the dark-red zone where provinces hardest-hit by Covid-19 are located.
However, the latest restriction, even with the threat of jail time, is unlikely to deter the protesters who are expected to turn out in droves, according to political observers.
The public can expect to see the regulars like the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration group, the Thai Mai Thon group and anti-coup campaigner Sombat Boonngam-anong. It was speculated another group led by former Pheu Thai Party MP and red-shirt leader Worachai Hema would join today's rally.
However, Nattawut Saikuar, another former red-shirt leader, has announced he will have no part in the rally after learning the protesters would be heading close to the palace.
With Mr Nattawut, a magnet at red-shirt gatherings in the past, staying away, it is most likely the Worachai group, which is closely allied with Mr Nattawut, will steer clear too.
The Worachai group initially had planned to gather at the Imperial World Samrong shopping mall in Samut Prakan before moving to Democracy Monument to join the other groups in making their political point.
According to Mr Worachai, today's rally would have been a reunion of red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) members whose ties date back to the days they came together to protest against the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration a decade ago.
Mr Worachai said his group shares a common goal with the others, which is to force a change of leadership. It is usually not a good idea to change horses midstream, but not in the Covid-19 crisis, according to the former MP for Samut Prakan.
"Gen Prayut is like a horse with a broken leg. How can we lead the charge against the pandemic? This is not to mention that he has failed to turn the economy around.
"While we can let that one slide, we can't do the same with the Covid-19 fight in which people have died. Gen Prayut said he would not let people die at home or on the streets, but it still happens," Mr Worachai said.
By replacing Gen Prayut with someone who is knowledgeable and ready to sacrifice, the stock market will immediately go up, the veteran politician predicted, even though he is still clueless as to who that person will be.
Chief opposition whip Sutin Klungsang said the government's mishandling of the Covid-19 situation is driving anti-government protesters to go all-out to force Gen Prayut to step down.
According to a Government House source, the authorities are on high alert over a possible escalation in demonstrations following a clash between police and protesters last Sunday when riot police tried to contain the car mob group near the Veterans General Hospital on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road.