Watanya calls for self-regulation by media, opposes proposed bill or govt oversight

Watanya Bunnag, chairwoman of Democrat Party’s political innovations for Bangkok, was expressing her views during a debate on “Rights and freedom of the media in the eyes of Thai political parties”, held by the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), Unesco and Cofact Thailand.

The debate was held at the TJA office from 10am to noon on Tuesday to mark World Press Freedom Day, which is marked on May 3 every year.

Watanya, who is also the wife of Nation Group CEO Shine Bunnag, said the government must respect the people’s freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution.

She said the state must create an atmosphere that would allow self-governance and monitoring by media peers to ensure that the media does not violate the rights and freedom of others.

Watanya added that the government would have to make sure that the people have the freedom to information and the state must become an “open government” that could be monitored and checked by the civil sector.

The Democrat executive said she disagreed with the use of the Computer Crime Act as a tool to file defamation lawsuits to gag the media and civil media or social network users.

She disagreed with the government’s attempt to enact the Journalism Profession and Ethics Promotion Bill, and said the media should be allowed to monitor themselves through their peers.

First proposed in 2019, the bill aims to establish a framework for promoting ethical journalism in Thailand.

The bill includes provisions for the creation of a professional standards council, which would be responsible for enforcing ethical guidelines for journalists and media organisations. It would also establish a fund to support media organisations and provide training to journalists on ethical reporting practices.

While some journalists and media freedom advocates have expressed support for the bill's aim of promoting ethical journalism, others have raised concerns that it could be used as a tool for government censorship. Some have also criticised the bill for not including provisions to protect journalists from harassment or attacks, which are common in Thailand. The bill has yet to be passed into law and is still undergoing review and revision.

“There is also the issue of a fund to set the media's direction. We must find a way to allow the media to work in accordance with their respective ideologies,” Watanya added.

She proposed that the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission stop using concession fees to auction off digital TV channels.

Instead, she said, the NBTC should consider granting channels to bidders with the best policies to provide best benefits to the people like in India’s Digital Democratisation.

India's Digital Democratisation refers to the efforts made by the Indian government to promote digital access and connectivity for all citizens, with the aim of bridging the digital divide and promoting greater inclusivity in the country.

One of the key initiatives under Digital Democratisation is the Digital India programme, launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The programme aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy by providing citizens with access to digital infrastructure and services, such as high-speed internet, digital payments, and online government services.

“The NBTC commissioners must change their attitude. But before they can change their way of thinking, they must make way for a new method of selecting the commissioners. Instead of selecting people of rank and position to work on the NBTC, people with knowledge and experience of the media should be selected,” Watanya said.