Up to 1.5 per cent of "sin" taxes would be utilised to sustain TITV after it received Cabinet endorsement yesterday to operate as a commercial-free public TV station.

"We consider that 1.5 per cent from the sin tax, no more than Bt2 billion, should be enough for TITV's operations," Finance Minister Chalongphop Sussangkarn told reporters.

"The working committee estimated that 1.5 per cent would be about Bt1.5 billion, as annual tobacco and alcohol excise-tax collection is about Bt100 billion," he said.

TITV's financing would follow the model for the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, which was set up in 2001 outside the bureaucratic process by the Health Promotion Foundation Act, he said.

ThaiHealth runs on an annual budget of Bt2 billion from excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco products.

The allocation for TITV would not cause difficulties for the treasury, as the amount is deemed not too high nor too little, he said.

This is an extraordinary case, he said. The Finance Ministry normally would not agree to any law that directs the use of tax revenue, but this is a special case for better social balance.

The funding would start after the TITV law is passed and its editorial board and management team are appointed.

"This allocation would not be included in the annual government budget to prevent political interference. If this station is to be a public station, it must be kept free from politics. In terms of supervision, the government would help nominate directors but there are specific qualifications for them. I hope that it'll be professionally done but social control is needed for unbiased opinions and attractiveness to viewers. They should find ways to spend the budget efficiently but if there are no viewers, society should come to investigate. If there's a problem, there will be a process to fix it," Chalongphop said.

The Cabinet also approved a draft bill to establish the Thai Public Broadcasting Agency or TPB, as an independent legal entity with nine directors serving four-year terms.

The recruitment committee for directors would be made up of representatives from the journalist and broadcasting associations, the Federation of Consumer Organisations, a children's organisation, the PM's Office and the Finance Ministry. The board must be established within 120 days of the law's enforcement.

The draft law also describes the types of programming and stipulates that 1.5 per cent of excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco sales or a maximum of Bt2 billion would be reserved for the station. The finance minister is allowed to increase the percentage every three years. A viewers' council would be formed to monitor the station's operations.

PM's Office Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan said the draft bill would be forwarded to the Council of State for review as soon as possible before it is submitted to the National Legislative Assembly. She expects that it would take six months to start up TPB.

Jamnan Siritan, president of JSL, one of TITV's producers, said he had no objection to the public TV concept but wished it were viewer-supported.

"It should not be funded by tax revenue as that means all Thais have to bear the cost, irrespective of whether they watch the channel or not. Viewers should be charged to create a sense of ownership among them," he said, adding that tax revenue should be channelled to necessary projects.

Traiphop Limprapat, another producer, said production houses would have to negotiate contracts with the board of directors under a fixed budget, as they could no longer count on income from selling commercial airtime.