The ruling Thai Rak Thai Party has been hit by further critical allegations as media mogul Sondhi Lim-thongkul and supporters launch a new round of attacks concerning the so-called "Finland Plot", which accuses the party of having plans to sideline the monarchy.

While this is the first time that a political party has faced such accusations, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been accused of lese majesty on a number of occasions before. However, the latest allegations, which suggest that Thaksin's party had plans to usurp the monarchy systematically and institutionally, could result in an overturning of the country's current form of democracy.

Sondhi and columnists at Phu-jadkarn Daily, Chai-anan Samud-vanija and Pramote Nakornthab, allege that Thaksin along with a number of Thai Rak Thai Party founders have plotted to diminish the role of the monarchy since the 1999 formation of the party.

They say former members of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) who later worked with the PM, including Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, applied a theory of orthodox communism to map out the TRT strategy to promote capitalism and overthrow the Thai monarchy.

Many key TRT founders and members were part of the CPT in the 1970s after a student uprising to overthrow the military dictatorship in October 1973. The CPT's strategy then was dominated by a theory called "semi-colony, semi-feudal" and said Thailand needed to become a capitalist society as part of the transition to become a socialist society. The Finland Plot allegations say the former communists cooperated with billionaire Thaksin to fully enforce capitalism in economic terms, and dictatorship in political terms, overriding all the traditional institutions considered a legacy of "feudalism".

Pramote said at a seminar at Thammasat University yesterday Thaksin's creation of a single ruling party system, weakening bureaucracy, privatisation of state assets, and manipulation of the monarchy to push it into the role of a symbolic head of state, suggest Thai Rak Thai's actions were in line with communist style "cadre politics".

Other issues such as privatisation and bureaucratic reform are not of concern, as many political parties have adopted these - but allegations about sidelining the monarchy are different.

Although the 1932 revolution led to the firm enforcement of constitutional laws, most Thai citizens would disagree with the royal institution playing the diminished role of a symbolic head of state.

Sondhi and his supporters who carried the royal flag in their crusade against Thaksin over the past months support the monarchy playing a significant role in politics.

The actual existence of the so-called Finland Plot is questionable. Sondhi, Chai-anan and Pramote said yesterday they do not have firsthand evidence of its existence and only received the information second-hand from a TRT worker who defected a few weeks ago.

Perhaps the existence of such a plot, dubbed "Patinya Finland" in Thai, is not so important. Senior political scientists with PhDs like Chai-anan and Pramote know very well that highlighting the deeply sensitive issue of royal power is an effective way of damaging their opponent's political reputation.

Talk about "overthrowing the monarchy" was used as a powerful tool to put a bloody end to the

student movement in 1976.

But the tactic may work. Many Internet opinion sites received postings reacting to the provocative words on Sondhi's Manager website yesterday. One said: "Killing the evil gets no sin", which appears to be a play on the term "Killing communists is no sin", used by the extreme rightwing monk Khittiwutho Bhikkhu in the 1970s. The monk used the term to legitimise the murder of people labelled as communists.

Many TRT key members got the point and immediately rushed into damage limitation mode, denying any such plot. Thaksin said he had visited Finland with Phumtham and other staff in 1997 for a vacation, but it was in no way related to the TRT political platform.

Thaksin's chief adviser Pansak Vinyaratn described the claims as "black propaganda" which educated men should not be employing. The party also threatened to sue. It is unclear if the TRT will employ the same disclosure to fight back. If so, this could be the beginning of a dangerous game.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation