It would be presumptuous on the part of Thai Foreign Office officials to assume that the Singaporean government has been closely following the post-coup investigations into alleged corrupt practices related to the ex-premier, his close family members and political cronies.

That kind of attention and interest would be expecting too much from a good, old friend, especially when Premier Lee Hsien Loong had just told reporters at the Asean summit in Cebu - perhaps with Premier Surayud Chulanont within earshot - that Temasek, the island's state run investment arm, should be "held accountable" if its purchase of Shin Corp did not work out. He made it absolutely clear for the umpteenth time that "it's a commercial proposition" and that the transaction had nothing to do with the government. Any attempt to link it with Thaksin's subsequent downfall was therefore, I presume, purely accidental. From a purely professional standpoint, that, perhaps, is also a type of risk inherent in any major "commercial investment".

In other words, it would be preposterous for any Thai to even suggest that Thaksin being granted a "purely social and private meeting" with his "old friend" Jayakumar in Singapore had anything even remotely to do with the Temasek-Shin debacle, and a possible rescue from total disaster.

The Thai Foreign Ministry should also be held responsible for another grave oversight: didn't it realise that when it got upset over Singapore's treatment of Thaksin, it was taking a step that might be construed as threatening the sovereignty of a good old, all-weather neighbour.

How else can you explain why Singapore's warm and understanding statement concludes with a sentence as amicable as, "We hope Thailand will respect Singapore's position as that of a sovereign country".

Only an incorrigible pessimist could interpret this affirmation of sovereignty as a bizarre blend of a sense of insecurity and arrogance. What it really represents, if you seriously have faith in the spirit of Asean, is the manifestation on a bilateral basis of the famous "constructive engagement" policy.

It would be utterly unfair to suggest that a country that covets its image of sovereignty would risk being accused of interfering in a neighbour's internal affairs by providing a warm welcome to a highly divisive public figure in a way that could be construed as the host taking a position that is hostile to the neighbour's government. That is unless there were some hidden items on the agenda.

It would be highly controversial for anyone in Thailand to propose that well-known Singaporean political dissidents, such as Dr Chee Soon Juan, the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, be welcomed by a Thai deputy premier as an "old friend".

If he were to go on and give hard-hitting interviews on CNN and The Wall Street Journal in Bangkok blasting the Lee family back home, it would create an even greater controversy.

The last thing any decent Thai prime minister wants to be accused of by a "good, old friend" is being insensitive to his neighbour's feelings - especially at a time when he is trying to put his house in order and needs his sympathy most.