Veera to take up govt's anti-PAD cause

The government has changed its plan to counter its opponents through the media, and a former leader of the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD), Veera Musigapong, will do the job instead of government spokesmen.

The first pro-government programme, hosted by Veera, was aired last night on NBT.

The co-leaders of the DAAD, Natthawut Sai-kua and Jatuporn Promphan, joined Veera on the programme. All were members of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, in his weekly programme on Sunday, said the government would broadcast a one-hour programme at 10pm daily on NBT to counter the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). Government spokesmen would respond to allegations made through ASTV on an issue-by-issue basis, he said.

A government source who asked not to be named said the main reason the DAAD leaders had moved their programme from PTV to NBT was because of the inferior PTV network compared to that of ASTV, which is the media arm of Sondhi Limthongkul, a co-leader of the PAD. PTV has not been popular since its relaunch in the past month.

"We have failed to mobilise people, and viewers of ASTV have spread all over. In the provinces you don't need a satellite dish to watch it, just cable-TV membership. Now it dominates and is spreading divisive ideas and causing more conflict. If we ignore it, more problems will occur," the source said.

However, immediate criticism following Samak's remarks forced the government yesterday morning to cancel its planned programme.

Natthawut, a deputy government spokesman, said the NBT still had a contract with a private company producing programmes for the television station. The company is AC Records, which has close ties to former Thai Rak Thai Party executive Newin Chidchob.

The company informed the television station that it would change the format and title of its "Page 4 News" programme to "Chao Sanam Luang" and Veera would be the host, Natthawut said. Veera later said he had changed the title of the pro-government programme to "Today's Truth".

Acting Public Relations Department director-general Suriyong Huntasarn confirmed that the private company, a contractor to the NBT, had contacted it about the change.

Natthawut said the new programme (hosted by Veera) would be similar to Veera's programme on PTV. The programme's guests in the future will include ministers familiar with Veera.

The hosts expect the show to rank in the top three television programmes. The main audience will be PTV viewers, with the current number at about 10 million. Moreover, the general public and PTV opponents will also watch the programme, Natthawut said.

To the question of whether the postponement was because of criticism that the situation would be like that in 1976 - when the government used radio as a medium for propaganda prior to the political uprising - Natthawut said the objectives were to promote the government's policies and accomplishments.