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Published on March 27, 2008

Representatives from the Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Thai Restaurant Association yesterday met with Deputy Commerce Minister Banyin Tangpaporn to seek his intervention over the high fees.

THA director Sitthiporn Harnyanant said members asked the minister to demand an explanation from RS International Broadcasting and Sports Management (RSBS), which owns the Euro 2008 broadcasting rights for Thailand.

THA members have an estimated 2,000 television screens and have to pay between Bt1,600 to Bt5,000 to show the matches.

"It is a public TV broadcast as the programme is televised on channels 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 for free. The company [RSBS] gets advertising fees during the programme, so why should we have to pay fees as well," he said, adding no fees were set last season.

Sutthisak Prasartkarukarn, director of Thai Copyright Collection, one of RSBS's affiliates, said the fee collection was legal.

"People watching at home pay nothing. But hotels and restaurants broadcast the matches to attract customers, from which they benefit, so they should expect to pay a fee," he said.

Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation