The Bhumjaithai Party (BJT), or at least some of its leading members of Parliament, are angry and disgusted. The reason is that one of their colleagues, Manit Nopamornbodee, has been forced to quit, as the lesser choice of being fired. BJT leaders were quick to tell the media on Sunday that the virtual ultimatum to Mr Manit by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva was a violation of the rules, as if national politics were a game and holding the government accountable is somehow not part of the action.
Mr Abhisit deserves major credit in this disgraceful case, where imminent corruption was exposed at the highest echelons of the Public Health Ministry. Neither should there be pity for Mr Manit, the deputy minister who was publicly named but apparently not shamed by the investigation, which found possibilities for acts of corruption in the 85-billion-baht Thai Khem Khaeng stimulus programme within the ministry.
Mr Abhisit could have been more direct, and would have won more public support by demanding Mr Manit's resignation immediately after the latter's superior, Health Minister Witthaya Kaewparadai, stepped down in a show of responsibility. But the end result is that Mr Manit has been forced to take the action he should have taken voluntarily, and Mr Abhisit has boosted his own reputation as a corruption fighter.
It was certainly correct of the prime minister to force Mr Manit to accept accountability, even if there is little chance the now-ex deputy minister will ever be held responsible. Mr Manit's protests and self-serving statements on the issue command little respect. It is not only that a highly credible committee found overwhelming evidence of a conspiracy to steal and to defraud taxpayers of billions of baht. Mr Manit's own statements that nothing had happened yet, only makes him look worse, as if the country should somehow overlook allegations that senior government members were planning theft.
A second, unconnected but relevant case is playing out on a mountain. Red-shirted protesters have given even greater publicity to the nearly two-year-old case of the mountain-top lodge of Privy Councillor Surayud Chulanont. There is no longer any real doubt about Gen Surayud's right to the land. As a former prime minister, ex-chief of the army and current holder of a position with enormous prestige, Gen Surayud should have already begun the proper steps to return the land to legal status, and he should have told the public what those steps were.
Mr Manit and Gen Surayud are not colleagues. One is a member of the governing coalition, the other has been appointed to his position. But both hold posts with high profiles, and should be setting righteous examples. To his credit, Gen Surayud said in 2007 that if it were determined that his home was on illegal property, he would return it to the proper authorities. That determination is now clear: the general and his family have no legal claim on the land.
Like Mr Manit, it is unlikely Gen Surayud will be prosecuted, though prosecutors agree the general has occupied the land illegally, and many others have been punished in court for the same offence. The claim last week that Gen Surayud had "no intent" to break the law is eerily reminiscent of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra's plea to the court in 2001, of an "honest mistake" regarding assets disclosure. In any case, Mr Manit has been forced out of his post, and Gen Surayud must surely return the land to the state. Indeed, people holding high office must be accountable for their actions.
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