"Respect for human rights and the rule of law in Thailand were set back many years with the return to power by the military on September 19," the Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), stated in its report released yesterday.

Within hours of taking power, the Army abrogated the 1997 Constitution, abolished a superior court, banned political assemblies, restricted movement and authorised censorship, the group stated.

Among many cases of human rights violations under the military regime the group cited were the shut down of websites and the request for media cooperation.

The AHRC yesterday released its annual report on the human rights situation in 11 Asian countries including Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The group noted that 2006 has been the year Asia's people felt discontented with the authoritarianism of democratically elected governments as well as military regimes. "They are restless over the restrictions on their freedom of expression, association and assembly. They are angry at the use of martial law and emergency and terrorism laws that steal their rights in the name of making them secure," the group's statement read.