Seven media ethics regulators are launching a joint probe into the suspected largesse deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, also known as Big Joke, offered to four reporters.
The seven organisations issued a joint statement on Thursday, calling the offer of money to a news source and its receipt by a reporter unacceptable.
They are the National Press Council of Thailand, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand, the Thai Journalists Association, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, the Society for Online News Providers Association, the National Union of Journalists and the Confederation of Thai Journalists.
In the joint statement, they said the largesse amounts to a flagrant violation of the professional code of ethics.
The organisations said they will form a fact-finding panel to look into ethical issues stemming from Pol Gen Surachate's offer.
The panel will comprise seven members -- two each from the National Press Council of Thailand, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand and the Professionals of Broadcasting Council of Thailand, as well as an outside expert.
They also called on employers to probe reporters at the centre of the scandal and report the results to the public.
News agencies should stop buying news from freelance reporters who violate media ethics, according to the ethics regulators.
They said reporters who pocket ill-gotten gains from illegal businesses will be prosecuted.
Earlier, the deputy police chief admitted to paying four reporters for coverage.