A "cyber unit" has been set up in Thailand by the Crime Suppression Division of the police to investigate crimes on the Internet, amid reports that the country is seen as a haven for foreign cyber felons.

The unit was set up after a British man, Robert Wood, 24, was arrested on Jan 15 at Don Muang airport of Bangkok on charges of distributing pornographic pictures of Thai children under the age of 15 on the Internet, the Bangkok Post reported earlier this week.

Police seized a computer, a videocamera, a digital camera, computer gadgets and CDs, but had trouble getting access to Wood's computer because of its high-level protection system, said the report.

Thus the police had to send the evidence to Britain.

Thailand has decided to implement measures including set up Internet police bureau and worked out clearcut Internet laws to stop the chaos.

The unit will get technical help, including special software from the FBI in the United States and Britain's Scotland Yard, and will work closely with its US and British counterparts as well as Internet service providers to tackle the growing number of cybercrimes, said the report quoting CSD Deputy Commander Thawee Sodsong.

Thawee Sodsong revealed that most Internet crimes here were fraud-related, with people using fake credit card numbers to buy goods online.

Other cybercrimes involved people using technology to make and send on pornographic pictures of women and children.

Meanwhile, computers were also an important source of evidence in drug, corruption and fraud cases as many criminals used e-mail and chatrooms to communicate with each other, Nattapan Settabutr, a member of the cybercrime unit said.