A top Democrat yesterday urged the government to respond swiftly to what he described as a coordinated attempt to discredit Thailand in the United States that is being orchestrated by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Korbsak Sabhavasu, a member of the Democrat Party's executive board, was responding to an opinion piece by Ken Adelman - a former US ambassador to the United Nations and an adviser to Edelman Public Relations - in the Washington Times on Friday.

The article blasts the Thai government over its patent dispute with US drug firms.

"We've long regarded Thailand as a fine little country," Adelman wrote in the article that accuses Thailand's military of trying to steal US intellectual property (IP).

Thailand now belongs to what he calls "the axis of IP evil".

Korbsak said the tone of Adelman's article made it apparent that he was trying to discredit the government on behalf of Thaksin, although Adelman signed the article in his capacity as director of USA for Innovation, a group that lobbies for US pharmaceutical firms.

Edelman PR was hired by Thaksin earlier this year to launch a public relations campaign to help him return to the Kingdom, Korbsak noted.

The Chicago-based firm also represents Abbott Laboratories, which is involved in a patent dispute with Thailand over its life-saving Aids drug Kaletra.

Adelman's article attacks the Thai government over its capital controls as well as the drug patent row, Korbsak said.

He said the article written on behalf of USA for Innovation sounded like it was actually written by Edelman on behalf of its client.

The website for USA for Innovation advises visitors to "tell President Bush to stand up to Thailand's military".

USA for Innovation also turned to YouTube last week to "release a message to the people of Thailand". It claimed that the video-sharing site was blocked in Thailand for criticising the government.

Korbsak said he suspected Adelman, Edelman and USA for Innovation were coordinating attacks against the Thai government on behalf of Thaksin.

The Public Health Ministry is negotiating with Abbott so there is no need for other people to interfere, Korbsak added.

Adelman's article also likens the Thai government to the Burmese junta because it increased the military budget by US$1.1 billion (Bt36.12 billion), Korbsak said.

He urged the government, the Foreign Ministry and the Council for National Security to respond swiftly to this attempt to discredit Thailand.

Adelman is the high-profile neoconservative pundit who famously forecast that the invasion of Iraq would be a "cakewalk" and derided the war's critics. He was accused of hypocrisy when he subsequently switched sides and blamed Bush for the debacle.