You don't have to be a veteran political pundit to detect from PM Samak Sundaravej's latest Sunday TV show that his sense of insecurity is probably getting out of control.

He has become the genie that refuses to go back in the bottle.

Publicly, Samak was hitting out at all newspaper columnists for spreading the story that ex-premier, Thaksin Shinawatra was overshadowing him in all public appearances.

Privately - and he would undoubtedly deny it outright - Samak is shaken by Thaksin's various public moves to upstage him. Samak's latest live-telecast outburst was not aimed so much at the press, but an indirect rebuttal against the growing public impression that he was nothing but a "figurehead" who can be removed at any time once the "real party's owner" so decides.

Is there a conflict between the man and his surrogate? Is that speculation about a Samak-Thaksin split really coming to a head?

The real answer may lie in another question: Why is it that Thaksin hasn't visited Samak to seek the traditional Songkran blessings? Or, to make it more politically correct, vice versa? 

You may argue that Thaksin and his nominee have deliberately tried to avoid any public reunion. But several inside sources have suggested that the two haven't had any contact, official, or otherwise, since Thaksin returned home.

That, to put it mildly, is too curious to be true. Samak made the "unrefined" move on television by reading, word for word, a Thai Rath column that portrayed him as a hopeless ineffective chief executive - with the conclusion that Thaksin would fare better in all ways.

In a telltale sign that he was no more Thaksin's "nominee," Samak lashed out: "I AM in charge. You say he may be making a comeback. Just tell me how? How can he make it back to power? He is back in the country only to fight court cases…"   

Not only ago, he had asked Samak to serve as his political substitute to revive the party, under a new name.

Now, if you could read Samak's depressed mind through his trembling lips, it would be unfair for him to reclaim the seat so soon. Reading between the lines, one can sense Samak's desperate argument that he had after all led the People Power Party to an impressive electoral victory, thereby vindicating Thaksin to a great extent.

Of course, it would not be unusual for Samak to feel that he is entitled to enjoy being in the limelight at least for a while longer. Now, Thaksin and some of his close aides in the Cabinet seem to have given Samak short shrift only three months after the election. The critical remarks by PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrajang against Samak are only one example of such a move to discredit the premier just as Thaksin is busy making public charity appearances in an obvious "rebranding" campaign.  

Samak of course has every right to feel betrayed. He had after all risked his own political reputation to undertake the "nominee's role" for Thaksin.

His was nothing less than a political "suicide bombing" mission to save Thaksin from total demise.

And now, Thaksin, deliberately or otherwise, is upstaging him in every possible forum.

Samak may even be compelled to think this is the case of "killing the general after the war has been won".   

But Thaksin doesn't necessarily share Samak's assessment in this regard. He might have come to the conclusion that the war had not been won because of Samak.

It's Thaksin's grass-roots popularity and mammoth financial machine, with Samak serving only as a "nominal head", that won the day. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some of Thaksin's close aides are already telling their boss that the "nominee" is doing everything possible, short of a public "declaration of independence", to block Thaksin's return to power.

Samak was never expected to be an "obedient surrogate" in the first place. But then, he wasn't supposed to break out of the populist mould.

He hasn't refused to toe the line outright. Yet, he has failed to live up to the minimum requirement of carrying the "Thaksin torch".

Most importantly, perhaps, Samak was not expected to show his discomfort of being a die-hard "nominee". The understanding was that he would be more than happy to assume that role - and was supposed to, at least publicly, demonstrate that he would enjoy playing the role.

The moment he attempted to be "my own man", Samak could begin his countdown to permanent retirement.

He has yet to learn the lesson that one can't be an effective nominal prime minister and a proud self-made politician at the same time.