Telecom watchdog hit over expenses budget
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The NBTC Policy Watch group, which monitors the policies and performance of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, yesterday criticised the watchdog for using its expense budget in a manner that does not reflect the objectives of its
“Since the NBTC is an independent regulator, it should declare all expenses in each category in full detail to allow the public to check its transparency,” said Pornthep Benyaapikul, an economics lecturer at Thammasat University who does research for the group.
From the group’s review of the NBTC’s Bt1.4-billion expense budget for last year, Bt245 million was spent on donations and charitable activities, Bt206 million on overseas study trips and Bt114 million on public relations campaigns. These line items accounted for 40 per cent of the total expense budget.
Overseas trips
The overseas field trips alone ran up 16 per cent of total expenses and each of the 11 commissioners gets Bt400,000 per domestic trip, he told a seminar on two years of good governance of the NBTC hosted by the group.
According to the 2007 Constitution, the NBTC’s role is to manage the country’s precious telecom and broadcasting frequencies, promote fair market competition and protect consumers.
Prasert Apipunya, a member of the Superboard, which was set up by the Senate to evaluate the performance of the NBTC, said the Superboard had already started examining the NBTC’s budget spending.
Prasong Lertrattavisut, a director of the Thai Press Development Foundation’s ISRA Institute, said the NBTC should also disclose the details of the gifts or presents they received to ensure transparency.
