"The Thai government thought the country was still free if the BBC or CNN was blocked for a few seconds or a video clip shut down for an hour," Kavi Chongkittavorn, assistant group editor of Nation Multimedia Group, told a seminar on "State and media in Thailand during political transition" at the Thai Journalists' Association.

The veteran journalist said state censorship of the Internet had reached an alarming level because of the widespread anti-coup, pro-Thaksin and anti-monarchy websites. If the government continued its knee-jerk response by shutting down websites, it would further tarnish Thailand's reputation, he added.

Kavi said that if the new computer-related Offence Commission Act was promulgated, it would create a culture of self-censorship among online journalists.

Philippe Latour, of Reporters Without Frontiers, who annually evaluates the state of freedom in Thailand, said that the latest ranking of 122 was very low because of the substantial media censorship over the past year.

He said Thailand used to have one of the freest presses in the region.

Western countries such as France and the US, he pointed out, also exercise self-censorship over powerful personalities and security issues.

Veera Prateechaikul, deputy editor-in-chief of the Bangkok Post, lamented the fact that Thai journalists did not have the opportunity to own newspapers as they are normally owned by the state and businessmen.

"An editor dictates what is to be printed or broadcast and what is to be spiked. However, the media owner still has the final say if he or she chooses to interfere with editorial affairs," said Veera.

Human rights lawyer Thongbai Thongbao urged journalists to do their jobs to the highest professional standards.

"The National Press Council of Thailand must be able to enforce discipline and ethics on journalists," he added. "That way, the government cannot bully them."

The seminar was organised jointly by the French and German embassies, the Research Institute on Contemporary Southeast Asia (IRASEC) and the National Press Council of Thailand.

The minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office, Professor Thirapat Sereerangsan, gave the opening remarks and assured journalists that the government respected media freedom. He called on the media to cooperate with the government to ensure political reforms will be a success.