A Thai court issued recently three orders to shut down 400 websites, 344 of which, media reports said, carried material disrespecting the country's royal family.

This came after Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry sought court orders on September 2 to shut down about 400 websites and advised Internet service providers to block 1,200 sites it considers either a danger to national security or disturbing social order.

ICT Minister Mun Patanotai claimed that these websites had been detected between March and August this year, adding that he had sought court actions against them under Article 20 of Thailand's controversial Computer Crime Act. The ministry also asked help from the police to bring all the violators to trial.

The move to shut the websites down, however, came on the heels of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's declaration of a state of emergency in Bangkok on September 2.

The online edition of the "Bangkok Post" reported that the blocked websites included two with religious content, one video sex game and five with obscene material.

The same source quoted the ministry as saying that these sites' violations included "disturbing the peaceful social order and morality of the people, and/or which were considered detrimental to national security."

Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)