Renewal of BBC World radio broadcast contract a matter of the country’s policy :
NBTC --- March 10, 2017 18:53 By The Nation
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30308613
The
National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) said the use of
Nakhon Sawan’s short-wave radio-relay station to broadcast content from the BBC
World Service in Southeast Asia was a matter of the country’s policy that
involved agreements based on related international laws which needed to be
settled first.
The NBTC is willing to provide the service for the BBC
once Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and the company reached an agreement to
renew the contract, said NBTC secretary general Thakorn Tanthasit on
Friday.
The BBC’s short-wave relay station stopped transmitting at the
start of the year after the contract with the government expired.
The
news outlet said in a statement released on Thursday that the agency could not
reach an agreement with authorities to resume broadcasting because of its
financial limitations so it had to shut down the station. But it said people
could still listen to its programme via relay stations elsewhere.
The
Foreign Affair Ministry earlier said the two parties had been in negotiations
for renewing the contract.
The BBC, it said, had submitted the draft
agreement in late December, but this was too close to the deadline on December
31.
It said as such, the contract renewal could not be done in time as
it would have to ask the Cabinet for approval.
The BBC last month
contacted the ministry to brief it, according to BBC Thai.
Thakorn said
the ministry had submitted an official letter to it inquiring as to whether the
contract between the ministry and the BBC had to also be approved by the NBTC.
The organisation responded by referring to the country’ policy regarding the
matter (The Nation, via Artie Bigley, DXLD)
So might still reopen?
Perhaps even speculating about disrespecting the king cannot be alluded to
within the Thai press (gh, DXLD)
