Regulation is still needed in the Thai media market to make it fair, though the government can afford to relax some barriers to entry, says a study funded by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The findings were presented at a forum held by the NBTC and the Foundation for Community Educational Media in Bangkok Monday.
The presentation was conducted by two co-researchers, Jompol Pithaksanti, a law lecturer at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, and Pansari Kularb, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Communication Arts.
The researchers called on the government to ask the committee on trade competition to expand its responsibility to cover competition in the media industry, and support the entry of new players through three measures.
In the first measure, the committee should provide minor players with funding and access to resources to improve their chances of penetrating the media market.
In the second measure, the government should encourage major players to enter by relaxing regulations prohibiting them from owning other types of mass media at the same time.
The researchers, however, stressed the balance between relaxing these regulations and the influence of certain media outlets should be maintained.
In the third measure, new major players from other countries should be allowed to compete in Thailand's media market.
The government should relax laws governing foreigners' holding of shares in the media, said the researchers. Theerat Ratanasewee, of Voice TV, said allowing foreign companies to compete in the local market was not something to worry about as they would still have to follow Thai laws anyway.
Also on Monday, four media associations began probing allegations that Abac Poll, of Assumption University, paid a TV reporter 2.1 million baht to portray it favourably.
It was said to be among 163 payments to the media worth a total 4.4 million baht.
The associations were the National Press Council of Thailand, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association and the Thai Journalists Association.
A source said Jesada Anujaree, a member of the NBCT and chairman of the investigation panel, would ask the university to provide copies of documents pertaining to the payment details.
The panel wanted to know what type of payments they were, and who were the beneficiaries, the source said.
One unnamed TV reporter was accused of receiving 2.1 million baht and would be called for questioning.
The panel was also considering inviting representatives of the university to join the panel, said the source.