"I will refer this issue to the police so that legal proceedings against the people behind these websites can start," Paiboon said yesterday during a meeting on safe and positive media.

He said thousands of youths visited these websites every day.

"These youths will obsess over pornographic cartoons and develop wrong perceptions about sex," Paiboon warned.

Many magazines on news-stands featured scantily clad models and marketing campaigns often used sex appeal, he said.

At an event held by a condom manufacturer, guests put stickers on female-product presenters and these were mainly around their genitalia.

"Will we let our society go on like this?" Paiboon asked.

Paiboon said a ministerial committee on safe and positive media resolved to push for harsher punishment against pornographers.

Offenders face fines of up to Bt6,000 and three years in jail. But most cases jail terms were suspended.

"Tax measures will be used, too," he warned.

The Positive Media Operation Centre receives at least 35 complaints of allegedly improper media each day. Its hotline number is 1111.