Amarat Chokepamitkul, an MP of the Move Forward Party (MFP) and member of the House Committee on Political Development, Mass Communications and Public Participation said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) would be summoned to explain their request to the mainstream media to avoid covering news about monarchy reform.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) ordered the MVTV company to pay a fine of 50,000 baht for airing Voice TV’s “Voice Go” programme, claiming that the content of the programme affects national security.  

Two major journalist organisations have condemned the recent order to suspend for 30 days the broadcasting licence of a TV station run by red-shirt leaders. On 11 May 2018, the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association released a joint statement denouncing the order by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to suspend the broadcast licence of Peace TV for 30 days. Citing National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Orders 97/2014 and 103/2014, the NBTC imposed the month-

The Administrative Court has nullified an order that fined Thai PBS for broadcasting political talks about the Thai monarchy.    On 15 February 2018, the Administrative Court ruled to invalidate a fine of 50,000 baht imposed by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) on Thai PBS for broadcasting political discussions about the Thai monarchy.    The court ruled that bias on the part of Lt Gen Peerapong Manakit, one of the NBTC members who proposed the punishment, led to an unfair trial.

It’s been more than 24 years since the media reform began in Thailand, but the state still refuses to give up its ownership of public frequencies. The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commissioners, over half of whom are military and police officers, has allowed state agencies to continue to own frequencies, and ignored the recommendations from an internal committee. To make matters worse, the NCPO recently made an order allowing state agencies to retain frequencies for further five years. Currently, the military still owns over 100 frequencies.