Will the Rajabhakti Park corruption allegations disappear if Deputy Defence Minister Udomdej Sitabutr resigns?
Will the scandal go quiet now red-shirt leaders Jatuporn Prompan and Nattawut Saikuar have been arrested yesterday while on their way to visit the controversial park?
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the government must face reality. Despite its colossal power, the military regime has moved too slowly to counter allegations about corruption in the park's construction.
As the park project has come under public scrutiny, piecemeal attempts to conceal the affair or stop people talking about it are doomed to fail. Worse, the half-baked responses end up as fodder keeping the flames of scandal burning.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon gave a strong hint yesterday when asked about the pressure on Gen Udomdej, who supervised construction of the one-billion-baht Rajabhakti Park when he served as army commander earlier this year.
Gen Prawit said his deputy is a grown man and should be mature enough to figure out what to do, which is tantamount to his telling Gen Udomdej to consider his position.
While sacrificing Gen Udomdej, who is a member of both the NCPO and government, might give the military regime some some leeway as it argues the Rajabhakti Park scandal has nothing to do with it, the move actually comes too late.
The military regime might have earned some marks for transparency if it decided to ask Gen Udomdej to leave the government as soon as the scandal broke.
As it turned out, the regime chose to protect him, even telling the public that the former army chief did not need to be investigated by the army-initiated probe into the park's alleged corruption. It is thus ironic the regime seems willing to dump Gen Udomdej now when his abandonment is likely to count for nothing.
The scandal over Rajabhakti Park has advanced beyond its original point that an amulet trader demanded kickbacks during construction. The controversy now involves how Gen Udomdej as a representative of the army handled the problem and, at a later stage, how the army and government reacted to the issue as it blew up.
Gen Udomdej's resignation, if he goes ahead with it, might put a little distance between the military regime and the Rajabhakti Park scandal. But what use will it be when the controversy has boiled over and reached it?
Similarly, it's difficult to see how the army gains from the arrest of red-shirt leaders Mr Jatuporn and Mr Nattawut.
The two United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) leaders were nabbed by soldiers and taken away to an unknown destination yesterday as they tried to travel to Rajabhakti Park.
The military said they had to apprehend Mr Jatuporn and Mr Nattawut because their planned visit to the park was politically motivated, intended to cause social division.
It probably was, even though the duo insisted they only intended to pay homage to the statues of past kings at the park. Still, the military should have realised that allowing the men to visit the park would be less detrimental than arresting them.
What could Mr Jatuporn and Mr Nattawut do at the park except take some selfies and show them to their supporters? They might be able to offer some scathing political remarks to keep their fading names in the memory of their supporters.
It's unlikely they would be able to do anything more substantial. The military's decision to detain them makes the trip much more political than it could have been.
Again, the military's reaction has turned a self-promotional trip into a valiant political move, one that will plunge the ruling regime deeper into the Rajabhakti Park quagmire.
It's often the case that governments are brought down not because of scandals but because of their attempts to cover them up. Removing Gen Udomdej will not dispel public doubts about the park. Blocking people from criticising it will not shield the project from blemishes either. The only thing the NCPO and government can do to restore the park's glory is to tell the public the whole truth about its construction.
Bring its accounts into the light. How much was received via donations and state money? How much was spent, and on what? Full accountability will end the park controversy. It sounds simple enough. Why the military is doing anything but that, who knows?
Atiya Achakulwisut is Contributing Editor, Bangkok Post.