The chairman of the five-member superboard overseeing Thai regulator NBTC is urging the government to retain the board amid calls for it to be disbanded.
A number of state agencies have asked the government to amend sections of the proposed new Frequency Allocation Act to, among other things, abolish the superboard.
But the superboard's chairman Gen Boonyavat Kruahong toldthe Bangkok Post that the board is necessary to evaluate the annual performance of the 11-member main NBTC board.
The superboard is needed to improve transparency in the NBTC's financial management, he said.
In the past, the board has uncovered instances of mismanagement that could potentially have cost hundreds of millions of baht.
Boonyavat acknowledged that the NBTC does not recognize the superboard's authority, making fulfilling this role more difficult.
The draft changes to Thailand's telecom regulation are aimed at repositioning the NBTC as a transparent, accountable regulatory agency. The proposed changes have a focus on consumer protection and would make it easier to impeach NBTC members.
But the government has been criticized for formulating the draft law without consultation from the NBTC and for being a grab at control over telecom spectrum by the junta.