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 This old Thai saying means that a careless and minor blunder can bring about a fatal casualty. It perfectly fits the situation that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is now facing.

Three of Thaksin's lawyers were found by the Supreme Court to be guilty of contempt of court after allegedly attempting to bribe court officials with Bt2 million stashed in a pastry package. Pichit Chuenban, Suphasri Sriswat and Thana Tansiri were sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison on the contempt of court charges. Pichit and Suphasri were taken to jail immediately. Thana is now undergoing medical treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital. But the police are putting him under custody.

The Supreme Court has also pursued a separate bribery case against the three defendants.

Thaksin and his wife Khunying Pojaman will be deprived of this legal team when the Supreme Court's Office of Political Holders starts a hearing into the Ratchadaphisek land deal on Monday. Pichit is a veteran lawyer, while Suphasri is a law clerk and Thana is a legal coordinator. Thana is married to a niece of Khunying Pojaman.

Thaksin and Pojaman have been accused of abusing their power when Pojaman entered into the bidding to acquire a plot of land in the Ratchadaphisek area of Bangkok, auctioned by the Financial Institutions Development Fund. Thai law requires a spouse to approve a legal transaction. Pojaman won the bidding and Thaksin used his identity card as prime minister issued by the Prime Minister's Office, to back the legal transaction.

Thaksin spokesman Phongthep Thepkanjana earlier called the alleged bribery incident "a joke". But yesterday he issued a statement on Thaksin's behalf, saying that Thaksin expressed his regret over the Bt2-million bribery case and denied that he had anything to do with it. Phongthep also said Thaksin is willing to testify to the court regarding this case if asked to do so.

On the day of the incident, Pichit, Suphasri and Thana went to the Supreme Court in order to facilitate matters when Thaksin and Pojaman went to report to court officials after returning from abroad. Thana was the one who handed over the "snack box" to a court official. They opened it up and found Bt2 million inside. They took pictures of the money and consulted their superiors. They called Thana in and asked whether he knew what was inside. Thana nodded his head. They gave the money back to him. During that time Thaksin and Pojaman were reporting to court officials. Thana took the snack box of money and handed it over to Pol Lieutenant Wathanyu Wittayapalothai, one of Thaksin's guards, who stored it in a car.

The Supreme Court found that Pichit, Suphasri and Thana were acting as part of the same team because they were talking to each other throughout the day. The court did not believe Thana was acting alone. Thana tried to defend himself by saying that it was a misunderstanding. He intended to give a box of chocolates to court officials, but his driver brought him the wrong package, one with Bt2 million that had been gained from a land sale. The money was about to be deposited in a bank, he said. The Supreme Court did not buy this.

Now that the Supreme Court has asked the police to further pursue the bribery case against the three defendants, will the investigation cover other characters? The Supreme Court's ruling showed that Thana handed over the package with the money in it to Wathanyu, Thaksin's personal guard, so that it could be stored in the car.

The ultimate question is who really owned that Bt2 million. The Supreme Court's verdict has already suggested that it was used in a bribery attempt. If this is the case, then the investigators will need to find out who owned such a large amount of money. A lawyer would never use his or her own money for the purpose of bribery. Once this bribery case goes to court, it will prove to be another big twist in the course of events.