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Sarayuth Boonlertkul, a subcommittee member of the science and telecom panel, said the subcommittee's draft had been approved following a public hearing last month. The draft is aimed at helping the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Ministry improve its version of the same law.

The ICT Ministry has yet to complete public hearings on its draft. Once finished, both drafts will be forwarded to the Senate for debate and are expected to be amalgamated into the final law governing establishment of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC). The Senate committee's version stipulates the NBTC will have 11 members. It requires relevant organisations to submit nominations and then reduce the number to 22 names. After that, the Senate will select the final 11 members.

The ministry's draft provides for a commission with 10 members. Relevant organisations will submit a total of 20 nominees, from which 10 will be chosen for appointment by the ministry.

The ICT Ministry recently pulled its draft law from parliamentary consideration and submitted it to public hearings following criticism it proposed that the ministry should appoint the commissioners.

The NBTC is expected to be an independent and neutral body. It will oversee Thailand's extremely lucrative telecom and broadcasting markets, which are hotbeds of vested interest.