Four major local Christian groups yesterday submitted a request to the Royal Thai Police asking that the controversial Hollywood movie "The Da Vinci Code" be banned from Thailand.

Maj-General Phanomsak Thangthong, chief of the registration division, said the request had been sent to a censorship subcommittee for immediate consideration. The movie, produced by Sony Pictures from Dan Brown's novel of the same title, is scheduled for screening in Thailand on Thursday.

The movie "distorts the Bible and violates the dignity of the Jesus", Professor Wirach Koidul, an official with the Coordination Committee of the Protestant Church of Thailand, said in a statement released by the four groups. "Our joint conclusion agrees that the novel and the movie deliberately insult Jesus Christ.

"The movie depicts Jesus as only a man, and not entitled to the prophecy, as believed by Christians worldwide," Wirach said.

Moreover, in the movie he is "married to Mary Magdalene and fathers a son with her, which is completely false", he added.

The statement was made with the Evangelical Fellowship of Thailand, the Seventh Day Adventists' Foundation of Thailand, and the United Christian Church of Baptism of Thailand.

They represent about 1 million Christians in Thailand, they said.

"Inaccurate information contained in the movie should not be released to the public," they said.

Wirach said the movie could make viewers confuse fact and fiction.

"The movie refers correctly to the dates, places, time, and individuals, according to the Bible, while [fictional] information is simply cited without reference information," he said.

The groups will hold a press conference at 2pm today at the coordinating committee's office at Hua Chang Bridge in Pathumwan district. Christian celebrities will be on hand to make a statement about the issue.

Dr Manoch Jaengmuk, chairman of the United Christian Church of Baptism of Thailand, later submitted a request to the Culture Ministry demanding the movie be banned.

"The content in the movie lacks reference information. Viewers without adequate knowledge of Christianity may be misled into believing that the movie is based completely on the truth," he said.

Manoch said Christians in many Asian countries, including South Korea and the Philippines, were campaigning against the movie and that it had been banned in India. Singapore has banned people under 16 years of age from viewing the movie.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Thailand did not join the other groups in submitting the request yesterday. However, an official with the Catholic group said she supported the request for the ban.

The movie dishonoured Jesus and could confuse Thai Christians and affect their faith in Christianity, she said on condition of anonymity.

A leading Malaysian Christian organisation expressed concern yesterday that the film would distort religious teachings, but said Christians should make up their own minds whether or not to watch it.

The movie is slated to open in Malaysia on Thursday as well.

Bishop Lim Cheng Ean, president of the Council of Churches of Malaysia, said Christians were concerned that the movie "would repeat the historical inaccuracies" of the novel, but stressed that this should not shake the faith of believers.

Lim said protests or boycotts were unnecessary. "If Christians know their own faith, they will be strong enough. We can leave it to their discretion as to whether they would rather watch the movie or not. That is their free choice," he said.

Advocates of a box-office boycott in other countries include Archbishop Angelo Amato, the No 2 official in the Vatican's doctrine office, India's Catholic Secular Forum, and El Salvador's Roman Catholic Church.

Church leaders are concerned the film will echo Brown's novel by having scholarly characters dismiss the Bible and church teachings about Jesus as fraudulent. The plot also revolves around Jesus marrying Mary Magdalene, and a conspiracy to cover up their union.

The BBC reported last week leading figures in the Catholic Church have called for legal action against the book and a boycott of the film.

Cardinal Francis Arinze, who was among the favourites to become the new pope last year, said: "Christians must not just sit back and say it is enough for us to forgive and to forget.

"This is one of the fundamental human rights - that we should be respected, our religious beliefs respected, and our founder Jesus Christ respected," he said.

The novel, which has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, explores the theme that Jesus has living descendants.

It alleges that the Catholic group Opus Dei covered up the truth about Christ's bloodline.

The film, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou, will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival later this month.