National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission

Office of The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission

สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกิจการกระจายเสียง กิจการโทรทัศน์ และกิจการโทรคมนาคมแห่งชาติ
Agency overview
Formed	20 December 2010
Preceding agencies	Post and Telegraph Department (1989-2002) Office of the National Telecommunications Commission (2002-2010)
Jurisdiction	Kingdom of Thailand
Headquarters	Bangkok, Thailand
Website	NBTC

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC, Thai: คณะกรรมการกิจการกระจายเสียง กิจการโทรทัศน์ และกิจการโทรคมนาคมแห่งชาติ), served by its operating body the Office of the NBTC, is an independent regulatory agency of Thailand. It is responsible for overseeing the country's broadcast and telecommunications industries, especially the regulation of radio frequencies.

The origins of the NBTC stem from the 1997 constitution, which envisioned transmission frequencies as a public resource to be regulated by an independent body serving the public interest. Parliamentary acts issued in 2000 in accordance with the constitution called for the creation of a National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) and a National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to serve the roles. However, the appointment of the commissions was subject to much political manoeuvring, and the NTC had not been established when the 2006 coup repealed the constitution. The 2007 constitution instead called for the creation of a single regulatory agency, and the new Act on Organization to Assign Radio Frequency and to Regulate the Broadcasting and Telecommunication Services, B.E. 2553 was passed in 2010. The first 11-member commission of the NBTC, to serve under terms of six years, was appointed in September 2011, after a lengthy selection process which was subject to much public attention, not least due to the fact that over half of the appointees had military affiliations.^[1][2][3]

Major events overseen by the NBTC include, among other things, the auction of 3G and 4G frequency bands and Thailand's digital television transition.^[4][5]

Censorship

In November 2021, the NBTC office led by Lt Gen Peerapong Monakit, an NBTC commissioner, gave a warning to TV operators and concessionaires to reconsider carefully or even refrain from presenting content on some monarchy-related issues from the 2020–2021 Thai protests, in particular the 10-point monarchy reform manifestos. Media outlets viewed the move as a threat, while academics may be reluctant to express opinions on the monarchy for fear of being punished. Analysts said such self-censorship could put all public debate down.^[6]

See also

• Telecommunications in Thailand

References

1. "11กสทช.มาตามโผ". Thairath (in Thai). 6 September 2011. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
2. Chavarong Limpattamapanee (7 September 2011). "มหากาพย์ล้ม "กสทช." จากผลประโยชน์ธุรกิจ-กองทัพสู่การเมืองแทรก". Thairath (in Thai). Retrieved 9 February 2020.
3. Manuel, David (25 June 2011). "What is the NBTC?". Price Sanond. Price Sanond. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
4. Pokpong Junvith (7 August 2018). "มหากาพย์คลื่นความถี่ไทย – สมเกียรติ ตั้งกิจวานิชย์". the101.world (in Thai). The 101 Percent. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
5. Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University (2013). "บทบาท กสทช.กับอนาคตกิจการวิทยุโทรทัศน์และโทรคมนาคมไทย". สุขภาพคนไทย 2556 : ปฏิรูปประเทศไทย ปฏิรูปโครงสร้างอำนาจเพิ่มพลังพลเมือง (PDF) (in Thai). Institute for Population and Social Research, Mahidol University. pp. 129–132. ISBN 978-616-279-202-1. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
6. "Curb on reporting monarchy reform push could kill debate in Thailand". www.thaipbsworld.com. 2021.