The two main pillars of this government -- reform and reconciliation -- remain illusive despite all the talk about moving the country forward.
Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha's latest take represents a new twist on his mission. His main task, he says, is to lay down a 20-year plan for the country. So, if some of the short-term goals seem nowhere near being achieved, let it be known that it's not his fault.
But then, it's not possible to avoid being questioned on how the much-hyped "national reconciliation" is being handled. The powers-that-be appear to have "delegated" the task to all the other branches of government. And they don't seem to be in agreement on just how to go about achieving their goal.
Can reconciliation be incorporated in the new Constitution? Head of the charter writing team Meechai Ruchuphan was contemplating that for a while, before Wissanu Krea-ngam shot it down by suggesting that reconciliation can't be legislated.
"It's a question of the heart, not a legal issue," the deputy premier said. He didn't offer any concrete alternative, saying only that even if the new Constitution made it compulsory for all parties concerned to arrive at some sort of reconciliation, there would be no guarantee that such a provision could be enforced.
Meechai, in answer to reporters' questions on the issue a week or so later, said he thought a constitutional clause on national reconciliation could be applied to the future. "But I still can't think of a mechanism that could resolve old conflicts to reach reconciliation," he said.
It's the past that is the source of our present problems.
The future can be handled with greater care and is probably easier to map out if new conflicts can be prevented - or at least minimised.
Then came another new initiative, this time from the National Legislative Assembly (NLA): What about forming a special House committee on peace, to implement reconciliation.
General Akanist Muensawasdi, a member of the NLA, said he was proposing a list of names for this special panel who would work out ways and means of creating "peace" in the country.
The term "reconciliation" was not used, Akanist explained, because the nation should be thinking beyond reconciliation and aiming instead for all parties concerned to get down to the business of achieving peace.
"We won't invite people with extreme views to join the committee," he said. In other words, he wants "moderates" from all sides to brainstorm possible resolutions for the high degree of divisiveness in the country. He mentioned that all "shades" in the political landscape would be asked to join in the effort to cut new paths through the bumpy and rugged terrain.
While Suthep Thaugsuban, leader of the former anti-Thaksin group, expressed his readiness to participate in the new forum, the proposal was almost immediately shot down by a member of the Pheu Thai Party. Amnuay Klangpa, reflecting the attitude of the pro-Thaksin group, said the proposed House panel would lead the country nowhere.
"We believe that the best way to achieve real reconciliation is for the prime minister to use his absolute power through Article 44 to offer amnesty to all parties charged with political offences, regardless of 'colour' or faction," he said.
That brought the whole issue back to Square One. Nothing could be more paradoxical than the suggestion that the coup leader who overthrew the last government should exercise his absolute power, strongly opposed by supporters of the previous government, to pardon the offenders whose actions had been used as the main excuse for the military take-over in 2014.
When all is said and done, though, it's not the "form" of the moves that matters. It's the "substance" that will determine whether genuine reconciliation can be achieved. The big question, then, is: Who will provide the substance that can bring about a real breakthrough?