BANGKOK, Sept. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A group of Thai Buddhists on Wednesday gave the United States Embassy to Bangkok a petition demanding a ban on a Hollywood movie for its controversial poster,local press reported on Thursday.

    The movie named Hollywood Buddha has a poster showing its producer Philippe Caland sitting on the head of a Buddha statue.

    In their three-point petition, the Buddhist club called on the US government to review the movie's content, suspend advertisements and punish the producer and all parties involved.

    The Hollywood movie has drawn strong criticism from the Thai society for its poster.

    The House committee on religions, arts and culture also denounced the film producer and demanded Thailand's Foreign Affairs Ministry to issue a protest to the US government.

    "'I'd like to ask Thai people to boycott the film. I don't think it will be approved by the censorship board. I don't know what it is about, but that poster makes me feel bad already," the panel's deputy chairwoman Anongwan Thepsuthin was quoted by Bangkok Post as saying.

    The panel also called on the government to declare the producer persona non grata in the country and to ban local screening of the movie.

    Udom Charoen, director of the National Buddhism Office, said the film producer is only concerned with profit and is insensitive  to the feelings of Buddhists worldwide.

    The National Buddhism Office had earlier asked for change of the poster.

    "The movie producer might not have had malicious intentions, but the poster should be removed," said Udom, whose office had earlier successfully called for a halt to the plans of an Australian company to produce a swimsuit depicting a Buddha image.

    Thailand's Foreign Ministry has assigned the Thai Consulate in Los Angeles to raise the issue of the promotional poster with the movie's producer, according to newspaper The Nation. Enditem¡¡