VZCZCXRO0515
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #2407/01 1192321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 292321Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6530
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 3495
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002407 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS EAP/PD (Davies), EAP/MLS, DRL, IIP/G/EAP EMILY 
KENEALY 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PGOV KPAO TH
SUBJECT:  TiTV: The BBC-ification of Thailand's "Independent" 
Television Station 
 
REF: BANGKOK 01203 and previous 
 
BANGKOK 00002407  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Thai cabinet has decided to re-establish 
TiTV, the TV station seized from Shin Corp., as a public television 
station in the image of BBC or PBS.  Station staffers are concerned 
that the move will lead to a reduction in salaries and production 
quality, while former station executives and shareholders are 
threatening law suits.  Some of the media experts charged with 
drafting the laws to establish a public television station are 
requesting assistance from the Embassy in the form of a DVC with an 
American public television expert.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On April 24, 2007, the Thai Cabinet announced its intention 
to turn iTV -- now renamed TiTV or Thailand Independent Television 
-- into a commercial-free "public" station.  TiTV, seized by the 
government in February from Shin Corp., had proved impossible to 
sell after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) refused to renegotiate 
massive fines assessed on the station following the coup.  (Note: 
See reftels for more detail.  Shin Corp. was the company sold by 
deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to Singapore's Temasek. 
The fines were the result of a 2006 court order which invalidated a 
2004 arbitration court decision drastically reducing the station's 
licensing fees. End note.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) PMO Minister Dhipavadee Meksawan said the new public 
broadcast station will be run by professional broadcasters, not 
government officials.  She proposed a special earmarked tax to fund 
the station's operations in order to prevent political and corporate 
editorial interference.  The PMO expects to finish a draft law 
establishing the public station by May 11, for forwarding to the 
National Legislative Assembly (NLA). 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Cabinet decision to make TiTV a public station resulted 
from heavy pressure from prominent Thai mass communication academics 
who hope to turn TiTV into something resembling BBC or PBS.  These 
pundits see American and English public broadcasters as good models 
for media free of government interference. 
 
Opposition from within TiTV 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) TiTV staff, used to high private-sector salaries and a 
modern corporate work environment, is not pleased with the decision. 
 One news editor told PDoff that many production professionals, 
especially those in the news department, felt uncomfortable about 
the prospect of working in a government bureaucracy.  He thought 
that TiTV would never become a true public station, and would 
instead morph into something akin to state-owned government 
mouthpiece Channel 11. 
 
¶6. (SBU) A manager at the station noted other possible problems. 
TiTV's operating costs are extremely high.  Currently, even with 
advertisements the station was running at a loss and staff had not 
been paid since March.  He thought it was inevitable that the 
production quality and salaries had to fall.  He also said that 
making TiTV a public company would eliminate many jobs, including 
sales staff, marketers, and other business-related positions. 
 
Court Cases Continue 
-------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) At the annual shareholders' meeting on April 23, former iTV 
executives vowed to sue the PMO.  They alleged that when iTV was 
seized, the PMO had failed to inform the cabinet that iTV and the 
PMO had a long-standing agreement that justified the original 
concession fee reduction. (Note: The agreement had allowed iTV to 
renegotiate its concession fees if the market changed substantially, 
which the former executives argue happened which state-run Channel 
11 began accepting advertisements.  End note.) 
 
¶8. (SBU) Separately, a group claiming to represent 9,000 individual 
investors said it would file a complaint against the PMO and the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to suspend 
trading in iTV shares after the high court ruling. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) TiTV's final form remains far from certain.  Disgruntled 
staff, irate shareholders, and lengthy court cases all bode poorly 
for a quick and tidy resolution to the station's status. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Thai academics and media-law drafters are very interested 
in determining whether a public television station could really be 
independent, and if so how to craft the law to ensure this 
independence.  The PMO has asked the Embassy to provide a DVC 
 
BANGKOK 00002407  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
program with an American public television expert (request septel) 
in order to discuss some of the nuts and bolts of setting up a truly 
independent public television station. 
 
ARVIZU