The row between Thailand’s regulator and think-tank Thailand Development and Research Institute (TDRI) shows no sign of compromise.
The regulator handed out a statement that it will not back down on the defamation lawsuit filed against TDRI research Director Deunden Nikomborirak and Thai PBS hostess Nattha Komolvadhin.
Four out of the five NBTC telecom sub-board commissioners and NBTC secretary-general Takon Tantasit are plaintiffs in the case, seeking separate one and two year jail terms for the researcher and talk show host.
The document handed out said that the lawsuit was aimed at protecting the media from being used to spread lies and would uplift the quality of research institutions going forward
It said that it was unacceptable that Dr Deunden kept repeating lies that the NBTC had cost the country 160 billion baht ($4.96 billion) through its handling of the 1800-MHz concession extension, and that she refused to back down even after the lawsuit had been filed.
The TDRI has received backing from the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, the Press Council of Thailand, the News Broadcasting Council and the Thai Journalists Association, along with NBTC commissioner and herself former media activist Supinya Klangnarong and Bangkok Senator Rosana Tosittrakul. These parties together held a press conference slamming the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator for intimidating the very media it was set up to help free from state control.
TDRI president Dr Somkiat Tangkitvanich dared the NBTC to answer a set of ten questions relating to what he considers mishandling of the 1800-MHz concessions. Most centred around the lack of action or mass porting in preparation for the end of the concessions, despite the NBTC having finalised the frequency master plan more than 420 days earlier.