Twenty-four digital television stations have been permitted to resume regular broadcasts, but 14 other local TV channels and international news stations remain off air.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) yesterday invited station operators to a meeting where the orders were explained. Despite being allowed back on air, channels were told they must not show programmes discussing politics.
The earlier ban on 14 TV channels and community radio stations remains in place.
Six analogue free-to-air channels were allowed to resume broadcasting on Friday, but are displaying the NCPO’s logo in the top left of the screen.
The junta suspended all TV broadcasting early on Thursday evening, shortly after the military takeover was announced. For more than 24 hours, viewers saw nothing but a still NCPO screen with military and police logos, interrupted by occasional military announcements.
International news channels including CNN, BBC, CNBC and Bloomberg have been blocked. TrueVisions has replaced the NCPO’s still screen with its own image of coloured bars. Websites for CNN and the BBC are still accessible with complete reports from Thailand, including video.
CNN International has urged Thai people to tweet updates about conditions in the country since its television channel has been blocked by the junta.
On Twitter about 8am yesterday, the US-based news agency issued a tweet in both Thai and English. It said “CNN wants to hear from the people of Thailand”. The tweet also asked people to send in pictures and videos marked with the hashtag #ThaiCoup.
Earlier, it pledged to inform Thais know about its reports through bilingual tweets.