Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra's reputation has been hit by the recent earthquake following criticism she failed to launch a systematic response to the most destructive natural disaster Bangkok has witnessed in years.
Paetongtarn: Caught on the hop
Critics said natural catastrophes have not been kind to Ms Paetongtarn's leadership. Soon after being elected prime minister on Aug 16 last year, she was greeted with a flood crisis in Chiang Rai.
The premier stood accused of making excuses to avoid visiting the flood-ravaged province. Reasoning her premiership was pending royal endorsement, she insisted she had no choice but to wait for her appointment to be formalised before she could get down to business directing national affairs.
At the time, the emergency response, or a lack thereof, from the new government was called into question by opponents who criticised what they described was a "vacuum in leadership" needed to deal with disaster-battling challenges, which required a huge national-scale budget, manpower and logistics.
Despite the desperation felt by flood victims, Ms Paetontarn was spared a harsh rebuke on account of her being "new" to the top job. Her honeymoon period as head of the government was her saving grace, according to an observer.
However, the critics warned she must learn from the worst flooding in Chiang Rai in 30 years, which left 16 people dead and damaged more than 14,000 rai of farmland across nine districts from Sept 9-15 last year.
After this disaster she was expected to assume a commanding role, be equipped with a well-formulated action plan ready for immediate implementation in the event of another calamity, according to the critics.
This calamity came with the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, which shook high-rises and toppled one -- the State Audit Office (SAO) building in Bangkok.
As the capital descended into chaos, with panic-stricken workers and residents pouring onto the streets to escape the shaking buildings, calls were made for the government to step in to assist many tenants prevented from returning to their condos, which had developed deep cracks, for safety reasons.
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt announced that public parks would be open around the clock to provide refuge to residents with no residence to fall back on.
However, critics said no tents or temporary shelters were designated by City Hall for the displaced. Only volunteers were out in force to set up mobile kitchens to hand out free meals to those working at the collapsed building site.
The governor's announcement came on the heels of the government declaring Bangkok a disaster zone, which permitted the city to tap into emergency funds to respond to the crisis. Resources and manpower were vital for the search and rescue operations at the collapsed SAO building.
The observer said tremors had left a trail of destruction in its wake. Many residents and tenants admitted they did not know whether the insurance their condo juristic persons had taken out on their behalf fully or partially covered the damage caused.
Many have had to rent an apartment pending repairs to their condos.
At the collapsed building site, meanwhile, it was unclear who was in charge of the search and rescue operations being carried out by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and government disaster prevention and mitigation authorities.
As a result the government found itself the target of heavy criticism.
The Senate has taken the government to task for what it said was its slow response to the earthquake.
Senator Romsit Wiriyasan tabled an urgent motion calling for an Upper House debate on the issue with suggestions to be conveyed to the government and relevant agencies.
He said that evacuations from buildings, traffic chaos which hindered rescue workers' access to quake damaged areas, and text message warnings that took too long to reach people, reflected poorly on the government's ability to manage emergency situations.
"Immediately after the earthquake, no one saw the government's leader step up and take command of crisis management," Pol Gen Maj Romsit said.
Lt Cdr Wutthipong Pongsuwan, another senator, called on the government to speed up the implementation of the so-called "cell broadcast service (CBS) system", which allows emergency weather and natural disaster warnings to be disseminated via mobile phone messages.
Senator Nantana Nantavaropas said that two previous natural disasters that hit Thailand -- the 2004 tsunami and the 2011 deluge -- should have served as lessons.
"But the government seemed unprofessional and struggled to communicate effectively in a crisis. State agencies were too slow to respond," she said.
Ms Paetongtarn chaired a meeting with state agencies to address the text message delays warning people about the earthquake. Mobile phone operators such as Advanced Info Service and True Corporation also attended.
The premier asked them whether SMS alerts could be sent shortly after a quake.
However, this was too little too late. The prime minister, according to critics, blundered time and again.
After announcing on March 31 that Bangkok's disaster zone status had been rescinded and that quake-related situations had been brought under control, the prime minister learned of some state agencies evacuating staff from office buildings due to tremors being felt and structural cracks being spotted.
The critics took Ms Paetongtarn to task for trying to explain away the scare. She insisted the March 31 tremors were unrelated to aftershocks which had occurred in Myanmar.
"It had nothing to do with aftershocks or additional quakes," she said.
The critics were also baffled by what they said was the premier's suggestion that individual building managers were on their own in conducting quake-induced damage assessments.
Ms Paetongtarn added: "To be honest, I, like most other people, have no idea how I should conduct myself when an earthquake strikes.
"We don't live in a country where quakes are frequent and destructive. Some people might mistakenly think they experience low blood sugar when a quake hits. We need to be educated more [about earthquakes]," she said.
Casinos are not a surefire bet
Chaichanok: Catches all off guard
Bhumjaithai Party secretary-general, Chaichanok Chidchob, caught everyone off guard when he rejected legalising casinos during a House meeting.
His blunt rejection came shortly after the Pheu Thai-led government backed away from its bid to fast-track scrutiny of the casino-entertainment complex bill.
The legislation, which was initially scheduled for a first reading on April 9, was deferred to the next parliamentary session, due to begin in two months.
Mr Chaichanok's move, according to observers, has placed the ruling Pheu Thai Party, which initiated the policy, in an awkward position.
Opponents of the bill, which involves the legalisation of casinos and allowing them to be part of an entertainment complex, have been adamant -- the bill must be scrapped entirely, not just postponed.
"Our intention is to prevent the legalisation of casinos, not just see the bill's deliberation delayed," Pichit Chaimongkol, leader of the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand (NSPRT), said during a recent protest.
Also, the government's claim that the bill received overwhelming public support during its public input gathering process has been met with scepticism.
With strong resistance outside of parliament and Mr Chaichanok's opposition, the government may now be forced to consider holding a referendum on the casino proposal, according to observers.
Stithorn Thananithichot, director of the Office of Innovation for Democracy at King Prajadhipok's Institute, said Pheu Thai appears to be hitting roadblocks in its casino-entertainment complex bill push.
Mr Chaichanok's stance should not be ignored given that Bhumjaithai is the second-biggest party in the coalition and reportedly has the backing of the majority in the Senate.
Even if the government successfully pushes the bill for House deliberation in the next parliamentary session, the bill's passage is not guaranteed, he said.
The bill is considered finance-related legislation, so it requires two-thirds support in the House, or at least 330 votes.
Currently, the government is unlikely to secure that number and, should the bill fail to pass its first reading, critics are expected to demand the cabinet take responsibility, he said.
And even if the bill does manage to clear the House, the Senate poses a major obstacle and is highly likely to shoot it down, said Mr Stithorn.
"The government must have evaluated the situation and decided to back down for the time being. Mr Chaichanok's move is an added complication," he said.
According to the analyst, the Bhumjaithai secretary-general may be taking his cue from his father, Newin Chidchob, the founder and de facto leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, to seize an opportunity to score political points while Pheu Thai appears to be losing them.
"The only thing was that he [Mr Chaichanok] became overly emotional [during the House meeting], breaking into tears after the speech and ending up being mocked by several media outlets, " he said.
Mr Stithorn insisted Mr Chaichanok's move will not lead to a House dissolution because no political party except the main opposition People's Party (PP) is ready for a snap election.
Pheu Thai, which came second in the last general election, is also fully aware that improving on that result will be no easy feat, he added.
For the government, the best course of action is to put the casino-entertainment complex bill up for a referendum and push for the passage of the pending referendum bill after its 180-day cooling-off period has lapsed.
The public is sceptical of the government's claim that about 80% of the 71,300 respondents polled during an online public hearing conducted from Feb 28 to March 14 expressed support for the bill.
"There are questions after questions about the hearing process -- such as what the questions were, how accurately these questions were framed and how the findings were processed," he said.
Former election commissioner, Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, pointed out the results of the survey showed almost identical levels of support for every aspect of the scheme, with 80.6% to 80.75% of people voting in favour of each of the eight topics.
Statistically, it implied that 57,500 out of 71,303 respondents gave the same answers, according to Mr Somchai.
"Even from Mars, the result looks improbable. Yet the cabinet believes it," the former commissioner was quoted as saying.
The ruling party may need to negotiate with the PP for its support for the bill and be prepared to return the favour by holding a charter rewrite referendum simultaneously, according to Mr Stithorn.
"If a referendum is conducted fairly and the bill receives majority support, it can dilute critical voices. If scepticism remains, the government will face resistance and Pheu Thai will continue to suffer politically," he said.