PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan will today table a proposal at the Cabinet's weekly meeting for Thailand's first public broadcaster. Sources close to the minister hinted at the possibility that it would also pave the way for a separate independent television station. But the question is whether the minister and the government have the political will to push it through.

The proposal is the result of a month of public hearings and brainstorming by members of a broad-based committee that Khunying Dhipavadee set up to chart the future of embattled TITV - the reincarnation of iTV, the once independent TV station that was put under the care of the Office of the PM's Permanent Secretary in early March. While there is still a clamour out there for the TV station to go back to its original form as a privately-run and independent media outlet, Khunying Dhipavadee has been sending out signals that she is leaning towards the option of turning it into a public broadcaster.

The option has the strong support of several groups of academics and non-governmental organisations, as well as backing from some members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), who have introduced a bill to facilitate the proposed transformation of TITV. But pressure is also building for Khunying Dhipavadee and the government to consider reinventing TITV as an independent channel.

Advocates of independent television believe that while public television could be a good start to attempts to break state monopoly of the airwaves, it would not create enough momentum to bring about reform of the broadcast industry. An additional news and current-affairs TV station, to be run privately and with safeguards against political interference, is therefore needed at a time when the country is crawling back to democracy.

For a while it was obvious that the Surayud government was more preoccupied with finding a way out for TITV than trying to use it as leverage to jumpstart the long-delayed reform in the broadcast media. Of course, as a military-installed interim government, it has a legitimacy problem in meddling with matters that should be left to democratically elected governments. But enabling the Thai public to have access to independent media outlets is the least the Surayud government can do at this crucial political culture.

Independent media are an indispensable feature of any democracy. And in a country where the majority of people get their news and information from the broadcast media, independent broadcasters are especially essential. The promised political reforms will be less than meaningful if the broadcast media remain a state monopoly as they have been.

The Surayud government, therefore, needs to look at the big picture. Any decision about public broadcasting shouldn't be aimed only at breaking the TITV deadlock. It should be part of a package that will help set long-term media reform in motion.

Thailand badly needs independent broadcasters to report and inform without interference from political or business interests. Five years of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has taught us how important it is to have independent media to hold politicians and office-holders accountable.

TITV is not the only tool available for the Surayud government to make public and independent broadcasting possible. In fact, previous campaigns for public television focused on Channel 11, a TV station owned and operated by the Public Relations Department. Its main duty has been to serve the powers of the day, with little regard for public interest. Besides, the government still has a few of the so-called UHF frequencies that could be readily utilised for new TV stations.

As a former bureaucrat more familiar with control than issues of public-mindedness, Khunying Dhipavadee may have difficulty understanding media reform. But she only needs to listen carefully to what members of the committee she has appointed have to say about the future of broadcast media.

If Khunying Dhipavadee is serious about understanding their findings, she should know that they want the Surayud government to look beyond the question of TITV. The committee members want to see media reform - albeit in a limited form - take place before the current administration leaves office, starting with both public and private independent broadcasters.

The Surayud government has a crucial decision to make today. But it all depends on how it wants to go down in history.

Thepchai Yong