Ethical Standards of Television License Holders

Abstract

This research is aimed at comparative study of ethical standards of the television license holders of Thailand and foreign countries i.e. United Kingdom, United States, Commonwealth of Australia and Japan, studying problems of law enforcement in relation to ethical standards of the television license holders of Thailand, exploring solution and proposing a bill being suitable for ethical standards of the television license holders.  The research made use of a document research method to laws relating to ethical standards of the television license holders, textbook or related research works of Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Commonwealth of Australia and Japan together with in-depth interviews to groups of interested people i.e. government officials, television entrepreneurs, academics and consumers totaling 19 persons and with a focus group research method among 14 participants to discuss about a bill being suitable for ethical standards of the television license holders.

The research found that United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Australia and Japan currently applies the statutory regulation system to regulate the television license holders.  The regulator of United Kingdom is the Office of Communications (Ofcom).  Commonwealth of Australia’s regulator is the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Japan’s regulator is the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC). They regulate on obtaining license, contents and broadcast schedule and ethical standards-related in the self-regulation system through non-state organizations.  Meanwhile, United States applies the co-regulation system that regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other non-state organizations covering license, contents, broadcast schedule and ethical standards. In respect of Thailand’s regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) regulates issuance of license, broadcast schedule and contents affecting to national security but there has not yet had any government agency being obliged to determine ethical standards of the television license holders.

Accordingly, there should have application of two systems in place i.e. the statutory regulation by NBTC and the self -regulation system among the television license holders through non-state organizations as modeled by United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Australia and Japan.  The researcher also suggest amendment to the Frequency Allocation and Sound Broadcasting Television and Telecommunications Regulation Act B.E. 2553 (2010) to further provide relevant system and mechanism relating to ethical standards for the television license holders of Thailand.