Malaysia said Thursday it was powerless to stop a boycott of Thai goods organised by local activists over the treatment of Muslims in neighbouring Thailand's southern provinces.

"If anything happens, committed by individuals or NGO (non-governmental organisations), that is beyond the Malaysian government's jurisdiction," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

"They are entitled to their own opinions," he added.

Some 150 activists from several organisations called for a boycott of selected Thai goods during a protest Monday outside Thailand's embassy in Kuala Lumpur over the plight of Thai Muslims.

To pressure Thaksin

The Muslim Consumers Association, which spearheaded the action, said the boycott of two products was organised to pressure Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra into stopping the violence in Thailand's restive south.

"The best way to make the Thai government react is through the selective boycott of products," spokesman Remi Yahya-Ishmail told AFP .

He said the organisations, which have a combined total of 20,000 members, were calling for a boycott of chickens sold under the brand Pertiwi, believed to be a Thai company owned by Thaksin, as well Colgate toothpaste.

"We are asking Malaysians to stop buying the toothpaste so the conglomerate will pressure Thaksin to respect Muslims' rights," he said.

"This is beyond religious and faith issues because we also have non-Muslims supporting our boycott," he said.

Memo to embassy

Protestors also handed over a memorandum to a Thai embassy official calling on Thaksin to find the true culprits behind the violence in the south.

"The Thaksin government must look for the real people who caused the chaotic situation right now in southern Thailand because we think there are chances these people are not even Muslims, they could be drug traffickers or corrupted people," Yahya-Ishmail said.

Since January 2004 more than 950 people have been killed in violence in southern Thailand. Authorities blame the violence on a complex web of Islamic separatists, organised crime and local corruption.

Most of the population in Thailand's southern provinces are ethnic Malays and largely Muslim Malaysia has said it has a duty to protect Muslim refugees.