NRSA urged to create panel to discuss media bill

Alongkorn said this suggestion was unprecedented, but if the NRSA meeting endorses the media reform committee’s proposal, the approach should be explored to ensure that all those fresh recommendations would be made use of while giving the final touches to the draft.
Alongkorn was concerned that if the committee alone were to decide on the proposals, no changes would be made.
Following the NRSA’s normal procedure, the NRSA committee’s proposals, if endorsed by the NRSA, would be subject to review by the responsible committees before being forwarded to the government for further implementation. If there are some laws proposed to be enacted, the government would then forward them further to the National Legislative Assembly to accomplish the task.
Alongkorn said if the NRSA disapproves the proposal, the issue would then be over.
The media regulation bill is part of the media reform committee’s proposal subject to the NRSA’s consideration tomorrow. It has drawn flak from media members, as they believe the new bill would impose control of the state and interfere in their work through the proposed professional council and the proposed licensing system.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the Prayut government to withdraw the media regulation draft law, saying it will pave the way to tighten controls over news reporting in Thailand.
The New York-based HRW said in a statement that the draft bill, set to be tabled tomorrow for endorsement by the National Reform Steering Assembly, provides for a proposed government-appointed national media council to regulate all media platforms – print, broadcast, and online. 
It would also subject anyone who directly or indirectly earns income from reporting news to the public without a licence – and their company, agency, or organisation – to up to two years in prison and a Bt60,000 fine, it noted.
HRW Asia director Brad Adams said the “misnamed” media rights and freedom law is the junta’s latest attempt to increase government interference and control of any independent news reporting. 
Passage of this draft law, he said, would mean that reporters in Thailand would be constantly looking over their shoulder at a government-appointed panel that can have them jailed.
“The proposed media law is taking Thailand even further away from the junta’s promised election and restoration of democratic rule,” Adams said. “Instead of adopting another repressive law, the government should lift censorship and the rights-abusing regulations that are destroying free expression in Thailand.”