Thailand
Public television comes to ThailandPosted Feb 20 2008
Thailand's first public television station will hit airwaves Feb. 1 with original news broadcasts debuting on Feb. 15. The station will be modeled after the BBC and funded by six sin taxes. The station has 180 days to secure a board of directors. Meanwhile, a five-person committee has been appointed by the government to setup the Feb. 1 launch.
Thai Public Broadcasting Service will show documentaries and children's programs from 6 a.m. until midnight. On Feb. 15, an extra hour will be added to the schedule and approximately five to six hours will be devoted to news broadcasts.
TPBS replaces Thailand Independent Television, Thailand's only independent TV station. TITV went off the air on Jan. 15 and all 885 employees instantly became unemployed. It is unknown how many TITV employees the new station will hire.
TITV was previously iTV, which was seized by the government in March 2007 for outstanding fines and interest payments to the Prime Minister's office. At the time, iTV was owned by media conglomerate Shin Corp. established by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Shinawatra was overthrown by a military coup in 2006 and now lives in exile in England.
The military government placed iTV under control of the Public Relations Department, where it became Thailand Independent Television.
The Public Relations Department made several questionable personnel changes in recent months. PRD director-general Pramoj Rathavinij removed acting news director of TITV Atcha Suwanpakpraek without replacement two days before the December 23 election. The Central Administrative Court invalidated this order but upheld another that reshuffled 11 other officials, saying the officials' job responsibilities had not changed since the order. It was well known that several employees at the station remained loyal to former Prime Minister Shinawatra.