Khon Rak Chat Club (The Patriots Club), founded by Prayoon Krongyot, the host of radio programme ‘Muang Thai Rai Wan’ (Thailand Daily), holds a launch party at MCC Hall, The Mall Bang Kapi, yesterday. Speakers included Chucheep Cheewasut, Chupong Theethua

Community radio station FM 94.25 Khon Rak Chat ("Patriots") is striking a new chord as a forum for political debate.

For two years after its launch it provided country songs for almost all its airtime. Today it has two talk programmes on weekdays and one on weekends. One dedicates most of its time to listeners giving their opinions, mostly in favour of the government.

"We used to have very few people phoning in before the end of programmes. A few days before Khun Samak [Sundaravej] quit hosting programmes, the calls increased to seven. A day after he announced he was quitting in February, the calls rocketed to around 30," said Prayoon Krongyot, 46, a host of the talk programme "Muang Thai Rai Wan" ("Thailand Daily").

Veteran politician and sharp-tongued speaker Samak, a former Bangkok governor, was heavily criticised after accusing Privy Council President Prem Tinsulanonda of taking sides in politics by discussing political ethics at a seminar at Suan Dusit Rajabhat University.

Samak said Prem's comments could be construed as an implicit attack on Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, even though Prem did not name him. Reacting to social pressure, Samak and his co-host Dusit Siriwan decided to quit their shows on air.

A lot of Samak's fans have turned to "Thailand Daily", improving the ratings for the station, Prayoon said. He said his listeners were from all walks of life, from PhDs to the uneducated, but mostly middle-aged.

Listeners sometimes meet Prayoon at a restaurant in Bangkok's Bung Kum district, where the station is based.

"We have new listeners every day. If they like my programme, they will recommend it to others. Many taxi-drivers tune in. Their passengers think: 'My, I didn't know there was a radio station like that.' They see us as an alternative to the media that offer just stories from the anti-government side," he said.

Taxi-drivers sometimes only drive where they can receive the signal, he said, and some even carry subscription forms for the Khon Rak Chat Club for interested passengers.

Around 1,000 people attended a launch party for the club, which was founded by Prayoon, at the MCC Convention Hall at The Mall department store's Bang Kapi branch yesterday.

"Thailand Daily" airs from 5-7pm on weekdays, 8-11am on Saturdays and 3-6pm on Sundays. Previously, Prayoon hosted a music programme with some talk on social issues. The increased ratings and audience participation triggered the idea of changing the format to political talk.

The station's other political talk programme is "Poet Faem Khwam Khit" ("Open the Thought Files"), aired from 9-11pm on weekdays. The programme is hosted by Pokpoom Dejdeenukaew and Mangkorn Dam ("Black Dragon"). A lot of listeners also participate.

"Thailand Daily" was named to parody "Thailand Weekly", the show of anti-Thaksin media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul.

The programme usually starts with Prayoon talking about the political topic of the day. After about half an hour, he will open the lines for listeners to call in for the rest of the show. He breaks only for commercial spots and the national anthem at 6pm.

He said there was no screening of callers but 99 per cent favoured the Thai Rak Thai government. Callers can say anything apart from rude words, he usually says in his programme. He also attacks anti-government community radio for using rude language.

A Nation reporter who phoned the programme confirmed that there was no screening.

Prayoon declined to reveal how much the programmes cost but insisted no political parties subsidised them. At present the programmes have some income from commercial spots. Formerly listeners donated money to support the programme after he had paid for the airtime and electricity himself. He said he wanted politicians to stay away from his show.

On June 15 Prayoon began his programme by promoting the launch of the Khon Rak Chat Club. He then said problems in society were the result of people receiving false and distorted information or half-truths from other media.

"On 'Thailand Daily' you can get information and commentary on any issues such as the Constitution, the Election Commission or the royal appointment of prime ministers under Section 7 of the Constitution," he said.

After commercial spots, he said the disorder in society was partly the result of politicians and political parties that broke the rules.

"Politicians and political parties should turn to one another and discuss how to solve the problems instead of fighting each other. People are deeply disappointed that they keep arguing and suing each other like children playing. Aren't they ashamed of themselves for acting so childishly?" he said.

The first caller, Chatchai, said the media should stop reporting on politics until the end of the year.

Prayoon said: "They might die if they did that, don't you think?"

Chatchai said the media could report about His Majesty the King instead.

The next caller, Wut, said he had once believed politicians pledged to do good for the country, but from his experience they seemed to pledge to benefit from it, quarrelling every day and playing by their own rules, not the law.

"Are you saying they have less discipline than they should?" Prayoon asked.

"No," said Wut: "they have none."

Kornchanok Raksaseri

The Nation