More than 50 international scholars and dignitaries presented a petition Wednesday calling for the reform of laws designed to protect the Thai monarchy which they claim are being abused for political reasons.

The letter said the 'frequent abuse of the lese majeste law against political opponents undermines democratic processes' and generates 'heightened criticism of the monarchy and Thailand itself, both inside and outside the country.'

The abuse of unsatisfactory laws has created a 'climate of fear' where many people are afraid they will become the 'next victim,' said one of the organizers of the petition, Thongchai Winichakul, a history professor in the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The aggressive use of old lese majeste laws was a modern phenomenon producing a wave of arrests following a bloodless military coup against the populist prime minister Thaksin Shinawatre in September 2006, said Thongchai, the only Thai academic among the petitioners.

The minimum sentence under Thailand's harsh lese majeste law, which makes it a criminal offence to insult or belittle the royal family, is three years imprisonment. The maximum sentence is 15 years.

The petition asks the government to consider reforming the lese majeste law, stop moves to increase penalties for insulting the monarchy on the internet, release people already convicted and to consider decriminalizing the offence of lese majeste.

A prominent opposition politician, Jakrapob Penkair, is to talk to the Attorney-General's Office Thursday, which must decide whether to prosecute the former minister for comments made at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in August 2007.

Several people cases of lese majeste are pending in the Thai courts.

A well-known Anglo-Thai university lecturer, Giles Ji Ungpakorn, recently fled to Britain after being charged with insulting the monarchy in an academic criticism of the coup published in 2006.

Social critic Chotisak Onsoong is in trouble for refusing to stand for the royal anthem, which is played before movies at Thai cinemas.

The petition includes many of the most prominent scholars in Thai and Asian studies, as well as concerned world citizens like Noam Chomsky. A hard copy of the petition will be presented to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva within the next few weeks, Thongchai said.

Andrew Walker, a senior fellow in the research school of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, said the move was simply made to encourage the government, and the Thai people, to discuss reform of the current laws.

'It is the Thais themselves who must discuss this,' he said.

Wednesday's press conference was held in the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand, with Thongchai and Walker appearing by video-link.

The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology has closed down well over 2,000 web sites in recent weeks for posts deemed offensive to the monarchy. The Justice Ministry said it will demand court orders to shut down a further 3,000 to 4,000 'insulting' web sites.