The director of TV Channel 5, Lt-General Vudtichai Phornphiboon, is to propose that the Royal Thai Army appoint a permanent director for the station, with a three- or four-year contract, to provide both continuity and sustainable growth.

Vudtichai, who assumed the directorship of the Royal Thai Army radio and television station at the end of last year, said yesterday Channel 5 had a change in top management, including its directorship, every time there was a military reshuffle. This has led to a lack of sustainable growth and continuous work.

"I will submit my suggestion to the Royal Thai Army, which looks after the station, asking them to appoint a permanent director with a longterm management contract of three to four years.

"The Army may seek a young member who is able to show vision and create policy for the station in the long term," he said, adding that a decision on the proposal would be made by the Army chief.

Vudtichai, who will remain in office until next year, said he would focus for the rest of his term on completing Channel 5's restructuring, by reducing duplicated work and improving efficiency.

"So far, we have consolidated several divisions and cut the number of divisions back from 14 to 11," he said. The channel's TGN satellitetelevision project has been merged with the Marketing Division, and the Broadcasting and Programming divisions have been merged. The station is now evaluating feedback from the consolidations.

"As for new programming in 2007, I will allocate at least one hour's air time per week to new trial programmes owned and created by the station, such as short documentaries and reality programmes," he said.

He said that in the past, all of the station's air time was provided to independent producers who created and produced their own programming to fit in.

"Our new 2007 programming, which will be announced by November 14, will be in line with

the policy set by the Army chief, that of focusing on news and documentaries, which will

cover almost 70 per cent of all programming. The rest will be entertainment," he said, adding that more than 600 programmes had already been offered by independent producers.