Outgoing senator Kraisak Choonhavan claimed last night that people very close to Thaksin were behind an anti-monarchist website.

Kraisak said the webmaster could be traced through Singapore to Stockholm, and alleged that a woman related to Thaksin's inner circle had been wiring some US$4,000 (Bt149,000) every month to Stockholm to fund the activity for sometime now.

"I think the political situation is ripe. Many who supported Thaksin thought he was a progressive person - that he's a revolutionary for the masses," he said, adding that some of Thaksin's public rhetoric, interpreted by anti-Thaksin forces as being anti-monarchist, bear similarity to those found on the website.

The website is now blocked, although some of its content can still be read through Wikipedia and other related sites.

"It's also possible that the people behind the website did it of their own accord, without telling their boss," Kraisak admitted, adding that people like former prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh had been responsible for trying to crack down on the website in the past and should know more about it.

The offending website was identified as Manusaya.com and has been blocked by Thai authorities.

"The country has been in crisis for a long time so I wish to reveal evidence in a concrete manner … about what kind of force we're struggling against and what they are thinking," he said.

However, Kraisak failed to come up with any concrete evidence to support his claim. He said he briefly saw financial transfer records revealed by a Bank of Thailand official - a very senior figure whom he respected - who also showed him the result of hacking activity that traced the webmaster to Sweden via Singapore.

Defaming the King is a criminal offence punishable by a jail sentence of up to 15 years.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

The Nation