Media, democracy and politics

Supinya Klangnarong of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform is in The Nation making the seemingly semi-annual call for an open media in Thailand.

Supinya “hopes the new National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC) will be up and running by end of this year. Unless such a crucial regulatory body is in place soon, the structure of broadcasting and telecom interests in Thailand will remain unchanged.” She says that “[a]s long as the current structure is intact … [t]here will be no free and fair competition for the benefits of consumers in terms of prices and quality of service.”

After battling court cases and other pressure during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, she says: “Today, the same thing has happened again. The persons and political parties involved may have changed, but it’s still basically vested interests involving the state and private firms.” She adds: “In politics, for example, the quality of governance and politicians will heavily depend on the people’s access to information and freedom of expression.”

The power-that-be are reluctant to release control of the media for they fear freedom of expression.