BANGKOK, THAILAND - A THAI court has ordered hundreds of websites to be shut down for carrying content disrespectful to the kingdom's revered royal family, a media watchdog reported on Tuesday.

The government's communications ministry asked the court to close some 400 websites, including 344 deemed offensive to the royal family, the Bangkok-based Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) said.

Local media reported the sites included two with religious content, one containing a video sex game and five with obscene material.

'(The ministry) sought court orders on September 2, 2008 to shut down about 400 websites and ... block 1,200 sites it considers to be either a danger to national security or a disturbance to social order,' SEAPA said.

The minister for information and communications technology, Mun Patanotai, said the sites had been detected between March and August, and prosecuted under Thailand's Computer Crime Act, according to SEAPA.

The ministry is now seeking to prosecute the people responsible for the websites, it said.

The closures come after Thailand banned the video-sharing service YouTube for five months last year, over videos that mocked Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The ban was only lifted after YouTube, owned by Internet giant Google, agreed to filter videos related to the king from appearing to users in Thailand.

Internet content seen as overtly critical of the king - who many Thais believe is semi-divine - has been under close scrutiny since former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was toppled in a coup by army generals in 2006.