Opponents fear having media representatives sit in the assembly will lead to conflicts of interest and loss of perspective in inspecting the work of the assembly, while supporters see it as a great opportunity to keep tabs on the body from the "inside".

Among the opponents were journalists and media personnel working at Parliament, who fiercely discussed the issue at their offices before coming up with the idea of submitting a letter to the three media organisations asking them to revise their decision-making process.

The three organisations are the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association (TBJA).

"It is extremely inappropriate for media organisations to send representatives to be part of the NLA. If so, how can we ensure balanced reporting of the NLA, which is the main duty and role of the media?" the parliament media group asked.

"A conflict of interest is obvious in this case. Those representatives would get two sources of income - one from their own office and the other from the NLA," they said.

"We demand the organisations review and withdraw their representatives from participation in order to show respect to the media profession and to uphold dignity."

The parliament media group said its opposition was not directed only at the media organisations but also at individual media professionals such as editors and columnists.

The group plans to firm up its opposition measures tomorrow.

Ubonrat Siriyuwasak, a media academic at Chulalong-korn University, said media organisations should not join the NLA, as it was not established and approved by the people.

Fongsanan Jarmornjan, a director of Nong Bualamphoo Radio Thailand, said she supported the opposition camp.

The media should play a role as an observer rather than an actor in this sensitive scheme, she said.

"In the past we, the Thai media, passed through the struggles under political and money powers. That's because we strictly abided by our code of conduct and principles. In this case, we should follow the same path by not participating in the NLA," she said.

TJA president Phatara Khamphitak, who will represent the TJA in the legislature, said the media should consider participation as an opportunity rather than a handicap.

"The quota [of seats] is there. In the past when media organisations rejected to take any, there was always some newly established organisation claiming the space in the name of the media sector.

"If we commit to direct participation, we stand a chance of pushing the media stance in the NLA's direction," he said.

The media seats in the NLA were not a result of a proposal from the organisations but were invitations from the Council for National Security, which realised that the media should have direct participation in the NLA, he said.

Responding to the concern over conflicts of interest, Phatara said time would be the proof of the pudding and he was ready to be investigated and monitored.

The two other representatives from media organisations in the NLA are NPCT chairman Banyad Thasaneeyavej and TBJA president Somchai Sawaengkarn.

Of the total of 242 NLA seats, 20 were reserved for the media, writers and artists.

Among the 20 places, five were for media representatives, three for media organisations and

12 for media individuals. The NLA list was announced on Wednesday.