The National Broadcasting Services of Thailand has sent a letter to a subcommittee of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to disown the comment which its representative made to the subcommittee that the station’s coverage of the political situation during April and May last year was interfered with by the government.

Rattana Charoensak, Director of the NBT, sent the letter to the subcommittee on 16 Feb saying that the comment made by the NBT representative to the subcommittee on the previous day was ‘incorrect and false’.  

According to Matichon, NBT public relations official Priya Nawamala, who represented the station at the subcommittee’s meeting on 15 Feb, said that the government tried to exploit the NBT [to present its view] through the presentation of on-screen running texts; persons invited to give comments in the station’s programmes had to think along the same lines as the government to discredit the red shirts.

He said that this amounted to adding fuel to the fire, and the NBT was instrumental in the violence that occurred.

He also said that if the TRC were to request information from NBT personnel, 90% of them, he believed, would not dare to speak out, understandably since they received their salaries from the government.

However, the NBT Director said in her letter that although Priya was assigned by his superior to represent the NBT at the meeting, what he said was his personal view.

During the political unrest in March-June 2010, Priya, according to the NBT Director, did not work for the NBT, and he was not employed by the NBT until 23 Aug 2010.

The NBT Director also said Priya’s job had nothing to do with any broadcasting, reporting or production of NBT programmes.  His assignment was to take still photographs of the station’s activities.

The NBT Director said that he was assigned to attend the subcommittee’s meeting purely because the relevant NBT official was on vacation at the time.

The Director insisted in the letter that the station’s work during the political unrest was without any interference.  The personnel were only demoralized by M79 grenades being fired into the station’s premises three times and the frequent rallies of the red shirts in front of the station.