ZONE:

Policemen men in Thailand have become a target of gay men and straight women who have taken to sexually harassing the "men-in-brown" by making lewd calls to emergency hotlines and post suggestive pictures of cops on internet websites, The Nation newspaper reported.

Misterpolice.com, is a Thai website where visitors can download pictures of policemen in action, read erotic stories about the officers, and share their passion on the Web board while they fantasize about cops, its webmaster Vorapong Siriwan told the paper. The site also provides links to the police and the military, as well as to gay websites.

Police officers taking emergency calls are filing sexual harassment complaints with their bosses over lewd calls from both men and women averaging around 400 per month.

One high-ranking officer said the worst time for the calls is from midnight to 2am and he said some 60% are from men.

"If we talk to them for too long they ask us out, and the gay men always talk lewdly," Police Lieutenant Colonel Somdet Titawatanasakul, deputy superintendent of the round-the-clock emergency call centre, told the paper.

"We cut the line and call them back later to warn them not to disturb police on duty."

Officers on the beat on Bangkok streets have also complained of being often surrounded by gay men asking for dates.

Asked by the newspaper if the police's tight uniforms and the way they showed off policemen's physiques might be contributing to the problem, Metropolitan Police Bureau Commissioner Lt-General Damrongsak Nilkooha admitted it might excite some people, but said police simply had to deal with the problem and get on with their jobs.

"Police have to work and mingle with the public. They may attract the attention of some women or gay men, but we cannot take legal action against them because they are only an annoyance," he said.

"But we cannot take legal action against them because they are only an annoyance."