"I have done nothing wrong. I have been doing all the right things all my life. Even small things like a small ant walking by or a mosquito flying by, I have never hurt them. How can I think of doing bad things?" he said.

"If I get bail, I will go back to work." Prinya's tone was as defiant as ever.

The Criminal Court judges, however, ensured that Prinya and his two colleagues, Vasana Puemlarp, the Election Commission's chairman, and Virachai Naewboonnien, would not be allowed to enjoy the freedom to commit further crimes against democracy. After sentencing the trio to four-year prison terms for their unlawful handling of the April 2 election, and revoking their voting rights for 10 years, the judges went on to deny the defendants' request for bail. The defendants were immediately placed in custody and transported to a prison in Nonthaburi. Their EC status was taken away.

The three former commissioners have never expressed any regret for the damage they have done to democracy. Even if they did resign from the EC, they still planned on continuing to do their jobs as "caretaker election commissioners". The Thaksin regime would then have come up with all kinds of tactics to prevent new election commissioners from replacing the trio because of their impressive service. If this were to be the case, the October 15 election would have turned out to be another fiasco and another waste of Bt2 billion in election costs.

But this mistake will not be allowed to happen again because the three commissioners have been put behind bars. The judicial branch has almost achieved the impossible: first, it nullified the undemocratic April 2 election and then it dismantled the EC. This has never happened before in the long history of the Thai judiciary. The judiciary has created a watershed change in Thai politics in the most dramatic way.

Vasana, Prinya and Virachai must have received assurances from the Thaksin regime that they would never be given a harsh sentence and if they were to be handed a guilty verdict, that they would still be granted bail and would be able to return to work the next day. They were likely told that the judicial process would ensure that their cases dragged on for years before reaching the Supreme Court and that once they did, they could rest assured because the Thai Rak Thai Party is full of lawyers and constitutional experts. This was their reading, but a complete misreading, of the whole situation.

Indeed, there has been talk of fierce lobbying taking place behind the scenes on the part of the Thai elite and the Thaksin regime concerning the decision of whether the trio should be granted bail. In the end, the Thaksin regime was forced to accept that it did not have influence over the judiciary. Money can buy most things most of the time, but money cannot buy all things all of the time.

After the Court's verdict against the EC, Thaksin Shinawatra, the caretaker prime minister, said: "We do not have connections."

What does Thaksin mean by: "We do not have connections"? Is this a Freudian slip or a conscious remark? But Thaksin is not known as a man of subtleties. He is more of a black-and-white type of person, who is very smart, and focused on actions and results.

Therefore, one can only interpret Thaksin's message this way: Since the government does not have any connections in the judiciary, it lost the EC case.

Outgoing Senator Chirmsak Pinthong also questioned Thaksin's remark along these lines. He said: "Throughout his life, Thaksin has lived by connections. When this kind of incident happens, Thaksin only thinks about connections. If there are no connections, he thinks about how to get one with the judiciary." The collapse of the EC will create a further domino effect. Those who have been serving the Thaksin regime in any dubious way and hoping that they would be able to get away with everything they have done, will regret that choice like the EC trio. Thaksin's immunity no longer works.

Temasek Holdings of Singapore also received similar assurances from the Shinawatra/ Damapong families that the Shin Corp deal was guaranteed. But look at what is happening now to iTV Plc, a subsidiary of Shin Corp. iTV has been ordered to pay Bt77 billion in compensation to the state for an alleged breach of contract.

Look at what happened to the April 2 election, after which the Thai Rak Thai Party claimed a victory of more than 16 million votes. The election victory was taken away by the Constitution Court. Look at what has happened to the military friends of Thaksin. They are being reshuffled out to less important positions to pre-empt a coup. And now look at what has happened to the former EC trio.

We are witnessing a great unravelling of the Thaksin regime.

Thanong Khanthong

The Nation