Media set to keep up its fight on regulation

By THE SUNDAY NATION

 

 

THE MEDIA reform committee under the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) will not back down from its proposal for a media licensing authority, but media groups are still determined to push for changes to the bill they claim infringe on press freedom, representatives at a seminar said yesterday.

 

Thai Journalists Association (TJA) president Wanchai Wongmeechai, who attended the seminar on the media regulation bill hosted by Thai Chamber of Commerce University, said he had learned from insiders that the committee would not revise the proposal concerning the media licensing authority.

 

Under the bill, authority would be passed to a new Media Professional Council as that is what the committee had set their minds on, he said. However, the groups would closely watch the committee’s moves and take action as necessary, Wanchai added.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30305705

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-05

Good for them and the best off luck. But this something that the people in charge want. And they are going to get it no matter what. Got to control those pesky journalist.

5 hours ago, honoluludave said:

Good for them and the best off luck. But this something that the people in charge want. And they are going to get it no matter what. Got to control those pesky journalist.

The junta is very sensitive to what the outside world thinks.  If this made Thailand look foolish, they would back down.  Thai media and the entitled that run it are already a laughing stock.  The question is who is paying attention ?

Going to have to change the draconian libel and slander laws before the media become a useful tool to inform people in Thailand. 

Old school media is dying, why bother. Social media has taken over.

This indeed will be interesting to watch , by now if the media had any balls they'd stop reporting anything the Junta had to say , something akin to sending them to Coventry...............................................

33 minutes ago, chainarong said:

This indeed will be interesting to watch , by now if the media had any balls they'd stop reporting anything the Junta had to say , something akin to sending them to Coventry...............................................

I agree, but I suspect any media blackout of junta shenanigans would be a futile exercise. It would see the RTA Radio, Television Channel 5, and the National News Bureau provide the only "news" available to Thais (who don't possess VPN) in a repugnantly sanitised form - Oh the horror !!!

 

 

"...Persisting with the bill will deal a death blow to Thailand’s regional reputation as one of the freest and vibrant media environments..."  ( Edgardo Legaspi, Southeast Asian Press Alliance Executive Director, https://www.seapa.org/a-potential-death-blow-to-media-freedom/).

15 hours ago, rooster59 said:

said he had learned from insiders that the committee would not revise the proposal concerning the media licensing authority.

Straight from China's playbook. Hip hip hooray for the media but your flogging a dead horse. There is no give and take with this crowd even though Meecha claims the changes may infringe on the constitution. Like the submarines its a done deal end of discussion. 

Names are being taken by the brownshirts as we comment.