A total of 78 candidates have submitted their applications to vie for seven new member positions on the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) board as the seven-day application period concluded on Tuesday.
Former NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith showed up on the last day to submit his application.
In January this year, he failed to make the shortlist of 14 candidates for membership of the NBTC board in the second recruitment round, which was eventually scrapped.
Pakdee Manaves and Air Marshal Thanapant Raicharoen -- both incumbent deputy secretary-generals of the NBTC -- also applied. So did former NBTC deputy secretary-general Korkij Danchaivichit and Vunnaporn Devahastin, secretary-general of the office of National Digital Economy and Society Committee.
A source at the Secretariat of the Senate, which handles the application process, said the recruitment process under the amended NBTC Act is shorter than the 2017 NBTC Act, which was used for the past two recruitment rounds, which both faltered.
The amended version enables the secretariat's selection committee to pick seven names among the most qualified candidates right away and pass the list to Senate for further voting.
This differs from the 2017 NBTC Act, which allowed the selection committee to choose 14 shortlisted candidates first and then pass the list to the Upper House to whittle it down to seven.
In the first recruitment round, senators in 2018 voted against the proposed candidates.
In the second round, it was discontinued when the amended NBTC act was published in the Royal Gazette in March this year, despite 14 shortlisted candidates having been chosen by the selection committee.
These 14 shortlisted individuals also returned to apply in this third round, according to the source.
They comprise ACM Manat Wongwat, Orasa Muktier Purdy, Pirongrong Ramasoota , Jintanant Chaya Subhamitr, Athikom Roeksabutr, Kittisak Sriprasert, Somphop Purivigraipong, Arnon Tubtiang, Lt Tanakrit Akeyokaya, Jitnara Nawarat, Arayah Preechametta, Torpong Selanon, Pol Lt Gen Kiattipong Khawsam-ang and Mr Pakdee.
Based on the amended act, five NBTC members will come from the telecom, broadcasting, television, consumer protection, and people's liberty and rights promotion sectors and another two from areas deemed to benefit NBTC's mission and duty. The selection committee later defined the two latter fields as law and economics. Each NBTC board member represents each field.
