Both the timing of the meeting and the manner in which it was organised were ill-advised. It happened at a time when various graft investigation committees are struggling hard to gather - in the words of coup-maker General Sonthi Boonyaratglin - "what little evidence they might be able to find" to substantiate corruption charges against Thaksin and his cronies. The meeting was planned in a way that would attract maximum publicity because its schedule was leaked to the press one day ahead.

What's more, General Oud Buengbon, an aide to Prem, admitted afterwards that he had arranged the meeting between his boss and Pojaman. It just happens that Oud and Pojaman have developed close personal ties following the marriage of his son to one of her nieces. The confused public have only to connect the dots to realise that the former prime minister's wife has just made good use of her personal connections to afford herself a big favour. Prem is arguably the most influential political figure in the country at the moment.

It is an open secret that Prem is much revered by interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, Sonthi - the chairman of the Council for National Security - and virtually the entire top echelon of the armed forces. It is believed that the September 19 military coup to topple Thaksin could not have succeeded without Prem's blessing. Adding two and two together, it became clear to Pojaman - and indeed everybody else in this country who is familiar with how powerful people here dispense their patronage - that her meeting with Prem could only work to her advantage.

The big question is how, exactly?

The fact that Pojaman sought to meet Prem was not in the least a surprise. After all, she is reputed to be an expert of sorts on how to curry favour from powerful people, without which Thaksin could never have been able to build up such fabulous wealth through his telecom empire, which was sold to Temasek Holdings of Singapore just months before his ignominious downfall.

But it boggles the mind as to why a person of Prem's high stature, whose personal integrity was never in doubt, has allowed himself to be exploited by Pojaman in this fashion.

 Oud should have known better than to provide an inane account of parts of the supposed conversation between Prem and Pojaman. The general painted a picture of a repentant Pojaman, resigned to the terrible fate that befell her husband and their family, receiving sage advice from a magnanimous Prem to try and accept the law of karma. This is a classic Thai Buddhist allegory that was obviously designed to attract sympathy for Pojaman, Thaksin and their family.

Whether the public will buy it is another matter.

But make no mistake, the Thai people - whose approval of and support for the Surayud government and the Council for National Security are necessary for those bodies to survive - demand that ongoing corruption investigations proceed without fear or favour, leading to the successful prosecution of corrupt parties, however well connected they are. They must be punished for their crimes. Let's not forget that alleged large-scale corruption under Thaksin's watch and his unforgivable attempt to undermine democracy were cited as the main justifications for the overthrow of his government.

Failure by the Surayud government to carry out its duty to punish corrupt politicians who tried to destroy democracy will result in Thailand not being able to make a clean break from the scourge of corruption that has kept this country down. And that in itself is an unforgivable crime that will give the lie to whatever noble-sounding intentions the coup-makers and this interim government claim to possess.