Meanwhile the new draft NBTC act has been approved by the council of state and now makes its way to the junta-appointed National Legislative Committee for debate and passage into law.
Some key changes include reducing the number of NBTC commissioners from 11 to 7 into a single board in charge of both broadcasting and telecommunications. It also would require that commissioners were at least an Associate Professor or have three years work experience in a stock-market listed company with a registered capital of at least $30.7 million (1 billion baht).
The commissioner for consumer protection would need to have at least 20 years’ works experience.
The new law would also put the NBTC under the control of the Digital Economy Commission chaired by the Prime Minister, ending Thailand’s experiment with an independent telecom regulator.