Cash-strapped Thai TV Co has again filed an injunction request at the Central Administrative Court to protect its bank guarantee from being seized by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The move by the digital TV operator follows a formal notification letter from the regulator to Bangkok Bank (BBL), its bank guarantee issuer, seeking payment of the remaining auction fees and interest totalling 1.78 billion baht on behalf of it, said Thai TV president Pantipa Sakulchai.
If BBL agrees to pay the NBTC, the bank will then ask Thai TV to pay it back or it will seize Thai TV's collateral.
Pantipa: Believes court will be fair
Thai TV filed an injunction request last month to protect its bank guarantee but the court dismissed its request. At that time, Mrs Pantipa said there was no concrete action against Thai TV and the NBTC did not send the notification letter to BBL.
She said she was confident the court would be fair because the NBTC failed to facilitate a smooth transition to digital TV. Mrs Pantipa believes some digital TV channels will fail to pay their third instalment of auction fees, due next month.
The total amount Thai TV must pay comprises five instalments of auction fees plus 7.5% interest from May 26, 2015, to Feb 2, 2016.
Suchart Chomsakul, a lawyer for Thai TV, said Thai TV still has the right to refuse to pay the remaining auction fees and interest until the court makes a ruling.
Thai TV placed its bank guarantee worth a combined 1.97 billion baht with the NBTC when it was officially awarded two digital TV licences for Loca children's and Thai TV news channels in early 2014.
Supinya Klangnarong, a broadcasting commissioner at the NBTC, said if the court approved the injunction, the digital TV industry will be weakened and enforcement of the NBTC's rules and regulations will be diminished.
Thai TV and seven other digital TV operators have filed lawsuits against the NBTC, blaming the regulator for failing to facilitate a smooth digital TV transition.