When Chavalit Yongchaiyudh was running for prime minister in 1996, he was blessed by Thailand's most revered monk with, yes, a whack over the head with a rolled-up newspaper.

He won. So when the country was hit by the Asian financial tsunami a year later and his government jolted by the ensuring street protests, Chavalit used his lucky number five to carry out a crucial cabinet shake-up.

His revamped cabinet was announced at 15.05 on Aug 15 - five new ministers were named, five sacked and five swapped posts.

It didn’t work. A month later, Chavalit quit.