Even though the government has insisted it was the BBC's own decision to not renew the 20-year lease of a major shortwave broadcast station for Asia in Nakhon Sawan, many see it as the latest jab that the junta has carefully landed on the face of the British broadcaster.
Since its Thai language service became available across the social media and now via a website, and as alternative news sources for Thais expand amid growing intimidation of the media by the military government in the wake of the 2014 coup, BBC Thai has published a number of critical articles that have upset the ruling junta.
As a watchdog, it should have the right to criticise governments, including military ones. But the BBC has the tendency to go too far. Its article about His Majesty the King in late 2016 is the latest trigger which gave an opening for the junta to raid its Bangkok office shortly after publication.
Erich Parpart is senior reporter, Bangkok Post.
None of the BBC staff were arrested under the lese majeste law, but their office was closed for that day. The military government has left them alone since, but it is still looking for the author of the report.
In subsequent actions, the broadcaster was hit again when its Bangkok-based correspondent, Jonathan Head, was indicted for trial in court after a lawyer brought a criminal defamation case against him over his investigative report on alleged fraud in Phuket.
The prosecution was sparked by a September 2015 report by Head who was looking at how two foreign retirees were scammed out of their properties on the tourist island.
He faces a criminal defamation charge, which carries up to two years in jail, and an additional charge under the Computer Crimes Act, which has a five-year maximum jail penalty.
Head has always been critical of how Thailand's computer crime and defamation laws are a threat to freedom of speech, and now he is facing both of these controversial laws in court. He has had to surrender his passport to the court, leaving him unable to work across Asia as he fights a court battle likely to last two years.
Head's case could be a coincidence. But it takes place at a time the broadcaster is seen as becoming a prime target of repression from the military government.
The Thai Journalists Association (TJA) should speak up against the military government, demanding an end to suppression of foreign broadcasters and journalists if it still believes in press freedom.
The junta has previously criticised the BBC Thai service for its frank and straightforward reporting. As the BBC's lease of the station to air its programmes in various languages, excluding Thai, comes to an end, doubt lingers whether the junta's efforts will stop there.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs' explanation that it was the BBC which walked away from the negotiating table contradicts the broadcaster's statement which says that, "despite extensive negotiations, we have been unable to reach an agreement to re-commence transmissions. Given the financial constraints faced by the whole of the BBC, we have reluctantly decided to shut the site."
The BBC's Asia transmission had been broadcasting uncensored foreign-language news into authoritarian countries such as Myanmar and China, as well as to countries which still rely significantly on radio such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, from Thailand since the station was relocated here from Hong Kong in 1997 when the city-state was handed back to China.
Thailand was clearly chosen as a strategic location to broadcast this frequency. Last November, the BBC announced it would beam regular Korean-language broadcasts to North Korea via this station, and so it is obvious the broadcaster still planned to carry on with its operation in Asia via the Thai station.
There is no reason for the BBC to not pursue a new deal unless the Thai authorities hike up the lease price so high that they cannot negotiate. There is, however, no good reason to significantly increase the price as it should not cost more to operate the station than before.
There is one important note that might justify the break-down in the talks and it is that many international broadcasters have been cutting back or eliminating their shortwave services in recent times in favour of satellite television transmissions and the internet.
I doubt this is the case. But the BBC has stuck to its previous statement and provided no further comment. They probably feel the red target being painted on them.