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When TITV closed at midnight on Jan 14, it signalled a brave new beginning for Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), the new model for public television. TITV was last owned by Shin Corporation and was seized last year by the former military government for non-payment of fines exceeding 10 billion baht levied for concession violations.
The order to establish a commercial-free Thai PBS puzzled people as much as the order to close down a decade-old station. The Surayud Chulanont government was criticised for lack of preparation on both fronts.
However, Thai PBS would never have happened if the previous government had left its People Power Party successor responsible for its creation.
Just six weeks after TPBS went on the air, PM's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair also turned the stodgy state-owned Channel 11 into NBT (National Broadcasting Service of Thailand), which he regarded as a public channel too.
Mr Jakrapob, who resigned after an allegation that he committed lese majeste, regarded Thai PBS with suspicion because it was created by the military who had expelled Thaksin Shinawatra from power.
NBT aimed to challenge Thai PBS. Allies of Mr Jakrapob tried to scrutinise the public broadcaster, but were unsuccessful because the station's independence is protected by the newly enacted Public Broadcasting Act.
Thepchai Yong, the acting director of Thai PBS, admitted that everything did not run smoothly for the country's first public broadcaster. It had to deal with brain drain, as some staff moved to Channel 7 and NBT. Most of its staff are former iTV/TITV employees.
However, Mr Thepchai, a former group editor of the Nation Multimedia Group, was satisfied with what TPBS has been showing on the screen. He said the station was able to report in-depth news and increase people's participation by introducing ''People News''.
''I think the only way to prevent interference is to build up Thai PBS as the people's station so they will have a sense of ownership and want to protect it,'' he has said.
Senator Somchai Sawaengkarn, who was involved in drafting the Public Broadcasting Act, said he gave Thai PBS a score of six out of 10. The low score was based on external rather than internal factors.
''Prime Minister Samak (Sundaravej) and Khun Jakrapob always attack Thai PBS. They confuse and mislead people that NBT is a public broadcaster similar to Thai PBS. Indeed, it (NBT) is still a state-owned TV station with a facelift,'' Mr Somchai said.
Civil servants change their master when the government changes, he said. Thai PBS didn't receive co-operation from the PM's office to transfer some assets from the defunct iTV operator, Shin Corporation. The firm was sold to the Singapore government investment arm Temasek by the Shinawatra family in early 2006.
Interim board members should share some responsibility for transforming iTV to public TV, Mr Somchai said. To be fair, it was hard for them to create a new perception about the public broadcaster. But they should be strong enough to resist the conventional TV rating system and try not to please audiences by offering them nothing but soap operas.
The station's new board, he hopes, will follow the principle of law. Public broadcasting, not only TV, but also radio, cable TV and the internet should be tools to build up a knowledgeable and democratic society, says Mr Somchai.
The dream of public broadcasters would be realised if they were free from politics.
As for NBT, the move to upgrade the unpopular state-owned channel is a welcome one but whether it can achieve its lofty objectives is another question. Mr Samak still has his own talk show on NBT every Sunday called Sonthana Pasa Samak or ''Talking in Samak Style'' from 8:30 to 9:30 am. He uses it to attack whoever criticises him or his cabinet.
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