This sensational claim made by vocal anti-Thaksin campaigner Sondhi Limthongkul and his associates seems to have achieved its intended outcome: inflaming public opinion against their political opponents.

Those who already dislike or even hate Thaksin and his ruling party for what they have done to the country these past five years have no problem believing anything bad that is said about them. Even those Thaksin opponents who find the "Finland Plot" incredible nonsense can't help but relish the fact that Thaksin and his people have found themselves in hot water over the worst possible publicity that could befall any Thai politician.

Make no mistake, this is an accusation of disloyalty bordering on high treason against the country's much-revered and genuinely popular constitutional monarchy. Such a serious allegation must never be taken lightly by anyone.

Sondhi and Thai-language Phujatkan Daily columnists Chai-anan Samudvanija and Pramote Nakhonthap claim that Thaksin and a number of Thai Rak Thai founders have been plotting to diminish the role of the monarchy ever since the party was formed in 1999. With conspiratorial overtones, they claim that former members of the Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) now working for the PM, including Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, have adapted communist orthodoxy in drawing up Thai Rak Thai tactics and strategies to manipulate capitalism while simultaneously weakening the monarchy. This was supposed to be part of a transition towards one-party rule by Thai Rak Thai.

The plan was allegedly hatched at a meeting between Thaksin and a select group of key Thai Rak Thai strategists in Finland several years ago, hence the Finland Plot moniker.

The accusers say the PM's designs involve establishing Thai Rak Thai as an unchallenged dominant force in Thai politics. To achieve that end, Thaksin would have to subjugate the state bureaucracy, privatise state assets and sideline the monarchy, relegating it to being merely a symbolic head of state.

Although the 1932 revolution abolished the absolute monarchy and introduced parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, most Thai citizens would disagree with a diminished role for the beloved royal institution. Indeed, the monarchy, which is constitutionally above politics, has played a vitally important role as a stabilising and unifying force for the Thai nation.

Sondhi and his associates seem to have based their controversial accusation solely on the word of a recent Thai Rak Thai defector, so it should be safe to assume they do not possess more tangible evidence. This gives Thaksin and his party plausible deniability, which in turn makes any Finland Plot allegation sound like malicious disinformation.

Whether or not such a plot really exists may be impossible to prove. But Sondhi and the others should know better than to stir up an already volatile political situation with irresponsible accusations that have a potential to inflame further hatred and violence between opposing groups.

Looking back over Thailand's political history, similar allegations of someone plotting the "overthrow of the monarchy" have been used as justification for coup attempts to topple the government or for bloody repression against those who hold unpopular political views.

What Sondhi and his associates have done is counter-productive to Thai democracy, which is already struggling to break free from the political mess wrought by Thaksin and his party through a culture of deceit and corruption. In fact, by compromising the quality of public discourse - which should serve as the underpinning of any vibrant democracy - with an emotionally charged hate campaign, Sondhi and company have done even worse.