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The new government regulatory agency in charge of broadcasting will have its work cut out in bringing community stations in line with laws governing frequency allocation and advertisement
- Published: 23/01/2011
- Newspaper section: Spectrum
In rural areas throughout Thailand, hands more accustomed to holding hoes, knives and fishing nets are now occupied with communications equipment for community radio stations. The stations are becoming a part of the daily lives of farmers and fishermen who are exercising their right to freedom of expression as never before.
Chainarong Wongkasitorn (''Uncle Kob'') and Jitanun Wongsetsing (''Na Thip'') are two examples in the Prachuap Khiri Khan's Bo Nok community, which fought against proposed coal-fired power plants in the area for many years. Both villagers are happy to pitch in as volunteers at the local community radio station.
''We don't call ourselves deejays because we don't operate like commercial radio stations do,'' said Uncle Kob.
It seems that almost all villagers in the subdistrict support the project, and many have donated money to buy equipment for the station, which is powered by wind turbines. Residents feel the station belongs to them and that it provides inspiration for the community. It has also helped many people outside the community understand the struggles of the Rak Bo Nok Environmental Group, which led the opposition to the coal-fired power stations. The power plant proposal was officially scrapped in 2002 after a lengthy campaign by the environmental group, but the victory came at a high price. Charoen Wataksorn, the group's leader, was gunned down in June, 2004 after returning from Bangkok, where he had testified before a Senate panel about alleged attempts by powerful local people to grab public land in Bo Nok.
The station provides a forum for residents who are wary of a possible revival of the power plant proposal or other controversial development projects. The station is also involved with other grass-roots causes.
Somboon Thaisong, who uses the name ''Mr Dream-catcher'' in his frequent calls to radio talk shows, learned from station news broadcasts that a group of displaced people from Ranong province was staying at the local Si Yek Bo Nok temple. The group, on a long march to the parliament building to petition for citizenship and an amendment of the Nationality Act, was given permission by the abbot to stay for a night at the temple and Mr Somboon donated 30kg of sweet potatoes to help feed them.
''I want to help and the only means I have is the produce from my farm. I really like the station and it has provided me with a lot of food for thought,'' he said, adding that he listens even while working his fields.
Mr Somboon used to have a small construction firm, but he returned to farming because he ''loved the land. I want to fight together with the people of Bo Nok.''
The radio station's broadcasts reach as far as Kui Buri district, 15km away. In Sam Kratay village, Suwimon Thepyam is as avid a listener as Mr Dream-catcher.
''I've learned a lot from the station about my rights and other information directly related to my life,''she said while preparing her dinner. She also donated vegetables to the marchers who were staying at the temple. Mrs Suwimon prefers the Bo Nok station to the other two community stations in her area because it has no advertisements. She said one of the stations claims to have a religious format, but it has many advertisements, and the other one is also very commercial.
''Yet they call themselves community radio,'' she said with obvious disapproval, and added that her entire family identifies with the causes promoted by the station and the Bo Nok Environmental Group. The latest activity her family participated in was a protest at the NTC headquarters in Bangkok last December to ask the agency to regulate community radio stations that don't operate in line with the existing laws.
But Natawuth Choodaeng, a vendor at Kui Buri district market, said he prefers one of the other local community stations because it plays more music and has news he thinks is more relevant, rather than mostly phone-in discussions between the deejays and the home audience. He doesn't mind the advertisements.
''How can they survive if they have no sponsors?'' he asked. He said he wasn't sure if community radio stations should accept advertisements.
According to Section 21 of the 2008 Broadcasting and Television Business Operations Act, as well as the 2000 Frequencies Regulatory Act, the answer is no. This is aimed at assuring independence (see box). The law as stated allows any community to run a radio station providing they have the licence, the equipment and the backing of a local community organisation. Currently issued licences are valid until June, when a new regulatory agency, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), will be established. The 2010 Frequency Allocation, Radio, Television, and Telecommunication Regulatory Agency Act authorised the new agency and it was announced in the Royal Gazette last December. A major hurdle in getting the NBTC operational is the selection of the committee members.
Anyone who has followed the history of the ill-fated NBTC knows that its implementation has been repeatedly delayed due to conflicts of interest between the proposed candidates and also between their backers. The selection process is quite complicated and involves many different groups, including the National Federation of Community Radio. However, said Pongpipat Wataksorn, who manages the Bo Nok station and is also a federation committee member, said the regulatory agency must be set up within 180 days from Dec 20 last year. If it cannot be set up within this time frame the Senate will select the 11 NBTC members.
Apart from the selection of the commissioners, the new regulatory agency will need to draft the master plan for frequency allocation. This involves ''taking back'', at least temporarily, 524 frequencies allocated to a number of state agencies (see graphic). The Frequencies Regulatory Act says that 20% of these frequencies must be re-allocated for public use.
According to the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC), the precursor agency of the NBTC, of the almost 7,000 ''community radio stations'', 158 are operating on a non-commercial basis at the present time, 170 to 190 have a religious format, 6,521 are classified as ''local commercial radio'', and an undetermined number are dedicated to national security.
Although the Frequencies Regulatory Act stipulates that community radio must be commercial-free, in 2006 the Thaksin government allowed six advertising minutes an hour, which led to the mushrooming of community radio in Thailand. However, the fact is that many stations are running much more than six minutes of advertisement an hour.
The 2008 law also stipulates that community radio stations need the backing of a nonprofit community organisation in order to register. In Prachuap Khiri Khan province and elsewhere many stations operate freely without a license, while some have applied for a temporary licence without providing documentation of community backing.
Surayuth Youngjaiyuth, a Prachuap Khiri Khan deejay who describes himself as the owner of FM 104, formerly leased airtime from a state agency. He didn't like that arrangement because he was not allowed to provide ''controversial'' programming. He is much happier as the operator of a community radio station, and doesn't apologise for its commercial nature. He said he leases weekly hour-long spots to local deejays for 4,000 baht a month. He has no marketing department, but if companies or shop owners want to advertise on his station he will send them a price list.
''I am proud of my programming. I am able to provide songs that listeners like, by artists like Grand X [a favourite old Thai rock group]. The people who have purchasing power are 35 years up, and they are the ones who like to listen to my programmes,'' said Mr Surayuth.
He said FM 104 devotes about 10% of its airtime for news and public service announcements, but he hasn't calculated how much is taken up by advertising.
''I think there are many stations that claim to be community radio which attack others for advertising, but I wonder how they can survive without advertisement,'' he said, adding that he suspects most of these stations are supported by NGOs. ''The reality is that we need to pay for the cost of operations, such as electricity and fuel to travel and so on,'' he said.
The 2008 Broadcasting and Television Business Operations Act says that the NBTC must provide funds for community radio stations to operate independently. The Bo Nok community radio hasn't received any funding from the state. Mr Pongpipat, the manager, said his station could not accept advertisement ''because we want to set an example of what real community radio is all about. If we take the money, it is not the community's radio station, it is somebody else's. This station survives through local donations,'' he said, adding that accurate and transparent accounting records are kept.
However, some people are seeing opportunity in the funding provisions. For example, a private company has set up a website that allows community radio stations to broadcast on the internet. The company has received funding from a state agency.
Critics are pointing out that there is no system in place to monitor the stations to see if they follow the principle of non-commerciality. The NBTC is mandated to support the drafting of rules of ethics and guidelines for self-regulation for stations that receive broadcasting licences (including for television).
NTC Commissioner Pana Thongmee-akhom has come out in favour of a system of self-regulation. ''I think the operators will be able to manage among themselves,'' he said. ''If they do not follow the regulations, they will be pushed out from the group.''
Wicharn Oon-ok, the secretary general of the National Federation of Community Radio Stations, said the federation is now in the act of screening its 158 members, as many of them do appear to take advertising. He said this is not in line with the true spirit of community radio.
''We have already drafted a statement of ethical standards for our radio operators and will present it to our members soon,'' said Mr Wicharn, whose own station is in Kanchanaburi province.
Supinya Klangnarong from Netizen Network wants regulations to be jointly enforced by operators and state agencies. She noted that at the moment anyone can set up a radio station and predicted that if there is no agency to enforce the laws there will be more illegal stations in the future, and the result will be chaos.
Somkiat Tangkitvanich, vice-president of the Thailand Development Research Institute, proposed a system of co-regulation that would limit the job of the government to enforcing regulations decided on by professional organisations, such as those formed by community radio operators and journalists. ''These professional bodies would still set their codes of conduct and accept and consider complaints,'' said Mr Somkiat.
Source:
Community radio still waiting for salvation http://bit.ly/fUXOww
(Yimber Gaviria, Colombia)
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