The National Council for Peace and Order on Wednesday ordered Thailand’s telecom regulator to deposit revenue from digital television and radio spectrum auctions into government coffers.
Under the order, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission will require money from the auction of digital-broadcasting services to be transferred to the government within 15 days. The funds previously went into the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for the Public Interest.
Wednesday's NCPO announcement stipulated that the Finance Ministry would be allowed to borrow from the fund to spend on publicly beneficial projects. The NCPO also appointed the head of the NBTC as the fund's board chairman.
Other broad members include the permanent secretaries of Prime Minister's Office and Defence Ministry, secretary-general of the National Economic and Development Board, director-generals of Budget Bureau and the Comptroller General's Department and director of the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre. Two more board members have yet to be appointed.