'Better to delay body to oversee broadcasters'
A media group that opposes the creation of a single telecom and broadcasting regulator may call on the Constitution Drafting Assembly to delay establishing the body.
Thepchai Yong, adviser to the Thai Broadcast Journalists' Association, said the group had two different opinions against a single regulatory body. One option was to ask the Assembly to put a provisional clause in the draft constitution that would postpone the set-up of the body for five years. The clause should state that, in the postponement period, a National Broadcasting Commis-sion (NBC) would be set up to regulate the broadcasting industry and would work with the existing National Telecom-munications Commission (NTC) before the single joint regulator is created later. Thepchai spoke yesterday at a meeting of media representa-tives opposed to the NTC and NBC being merged. The network is made up of 26 professional media organisations. He said the other opinion within the media group was to vote against the charter draft. The media network opposes Article 47 in the draft, which calls for the creation of a single telecom/broadcast regulator. The NTC has been in place for over three years but the NBC has yet to be established. The Central Administrative Court ruled in late 2005 that the process of selecting 14 candidates for its board was invalid and unconstitutional. Many media reps believe a single telecom/broadcast body would focus too much on the telecom industry, which has vested interests, rather than promote media reform for the public.
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