What was actually discussed, or what kinds of deal were struck, at the closed-door meeting of the "Big Four", namely Thaksin Shinawatra and Newin Chidchob, the de facto leaders of Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai parties, and Prime Minister Paetongtarn and Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, at the Ban Chan Song La mansion on March 2 remains a mystery.
Only Mr Anutin, reluctantly, opened his mouth, but his incoherent statement barely shed any light on the gist of the meeting. Never mind, though. Sooner or later, the consequences of the meeting will emerge.
Last Friday, the special case committee of the Department of Special Investigation, headed by Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Phumtham Wechayachai, made a surprise decision.
Instead of going full throttle to confront the so-called Blue Faction in the Senate over alleged voting collusion in the senatorial election last June, the panel took a middle path by allowing the DSI to investigate only alleged money laundering in the election. There is no more investigation into the DSI's charges of criminal association, threat to national security or election collusion.
This half-hearted approach by the DSI was interpreted as one of the political deals struck at the Ban Chan Song La meeting of the "Big Four", which is beneficial to the two coalition parties. Despite their mutual distrust, the odd couple need each other for the sake of stability in the government.
The money laundering probe by the DSI has a slim chance of changing the result of the Senate election or neutralising the Blue Faction in the Senate, which is affiliated with the Bhumjaithai Party, and numbers about 130 out of 200 senators.
The power to investigate election fraud, including voting collusion and money laundering, still rests with the Election Commission (EC), whose performance in dealing with the voting collusion allegation leaves much to be desired.
This explains why the failed senatorial candidates and reservists sought help from the DSI after their complaints went unheeded for over six months.
Like all elections of every level in this country, which are known to be riddled with vote buying and other electoral tricks, the senatorial election last June was no exception.
Critics say electoral collusion took place in all three levels of the election, from the district, provincial up to the national levels, with more than 300 million baht having been spent by the manipulators to seize control of the Senate.
To clear the air over alleged electoral collusion, both the DSI and the EC should cooperate with each other instead of trying to outsmart each other. Unfortunately, the DSI, which is under the supervision of Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong, a man who is closely connected with Thaksin, appears politically misguided.
With the DSI now focusing on the money laundering probe, the Blue senators can feel at ease that their status will remain intact for the long run, given the lacklustre performance of the EC in its pursuit of the electoral collusion case.
The round one proxy confrontation between the Senate and the DSI appears to have also lost momentum. With the DSI taking a step back, the Senate, too, will likely drop its threat to impeach the justice minister and punish the department. However, the Bhumjaithai Party will have to return the favour by throwing its full support behind the prime minister in the upcoming no-confidence debate on March 24.
Known as an overly protective father, Thaksin cannot afford to have his youngest daughter crushed by the opposition during the censure debate, and he will do everything within his power to make sure that she survives by a comfortable margin of approval votes, no matter how she fares in the debate.
At this stage, the censure debate itself remains in limbo as House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha is insistent that Thaksin's name be deleted from the censure motion by the People's Party (PP); otherwise, he will not include their motion into the House meeting agenda.
PP MP Parit Wachirasindhu has defied Mr Wan's request to have Thaksin's name dropped, claiming the House Speaker has no authority to judge the party's content of the motion.
But with Mr Wan's threat to not include the censure motion in the meeting agenda, the PP will have to think twice about whether they want to keep the censure debate alive.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Paetongtarn will have to prepare herself and do her homework vigorously for her first censure debate, even though she may have many guardians who will be ready to spring to her help at any moment.
But she cannot expect to be protected all the time, even with the help of her iPad. The censure debate offers an opportunity for her to prove her worth against all the insults, ranging from lack of leadership and qualifications and the failure of her government to address pressing problems, to allowing herself to be influenced by her father, Thaksin.
It also poses a risk that she may be "mauled" by the predatory opposition MPs like a helpless lamb if she is ill-prepared.
Veera Prateepchaikul is former editor, 'Bangkok Post'.