Bangkok - Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 14-year prison sentence for British national Maurice John Praill on charges of sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy eight years ago.

The ruling was read out to Praill, 77, at a court in Chonburi, 90 kilometres east of Bangkok.

Praiil was arrested in 2001 on charges of sexually abusing a minor at the beach community of Pattaya and sentenced to 14 years in prison but was allowed to live freely in Pattaya on bail for the past eight years as he appealed the case.

Since his 2001 arrest, at least six new child sexual abuse charges have been filed against Praill, Supreme Court officials said.

The initial sentence ordered by a lower court was upheld first by an appeals court and finally by the Supreme Court in Bangkok.

Wednesday's ruling was welcomed by ECPAT, or End Child Prostitution Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes, a non-governmental organization, but it also expressed worries.

"We are concerned that it often takes several offences and repeated arrests to ensure that a perpetrator is effectively prevented from harming more children," said Giorgio Berardi, ECPAT programme officer for combating child sex tourism. (dpa)