Media in Thailand

Thailand has a well-developed media sector, especially by Southeast Asian standards. Although observers have sometimes described Thai media as relatively free, at least by Southeast Asian standards, in fact the Thai state government and the military have always exercised considerable control, especially over radio and TV stations. During the governments of Thaksin Shinawatra, the subsequent military-run administration after the 2006 coup and military coup of 2014, the media in Thailand—both domestic and foreign—have suffered from increasing restrictions and censorship, sometimes subtle, sometimes overt. Thai media are protected by the copyright law of Thailand.

In their Freedom of the Press 2015 report, Freedom House labels the Thai press as "not free" and ranks it 166 of 199 nations in press freedom.Reporters Without Borders in 2015 ranks Thailand 130 of 180 (a lower number is better) nations in press freedom.

On World Press Freedom Day 2015, four of Thailand's professional media organizations issued a joint statement calling for the military government to revoke onerous press restrictions and cease political interference with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand.

Television is by far the most popular medium in Thailand. Almost 80 percent of Thais are estimated to rely on television as their primary source of news. Major television stations are owned and controlled by the Royal Thai Army or government.

Thailand has 204 AM stations, 334 FM stations, and six shortwave broadcasters (as of 2011). As is the case with television, radio broadcasting is supposed to be regulated by the Broadcasting Commission (NBC). However, because there were delays in establishing the NBC (now NBTC), radio frequencies had remained in the hands of several governmental agencies, including the military, state universities, the Posts and Telegraph Department, the Public Relations Department (PRD) (National Broadcasting Services of Thailand), and the Mass Communication Organisation of Thailand, Inc. (MCOT). These agencies operate several stations directly while the remainder are leased out to private content providers.

...
Wikipedia