POLICY MAKING AND PUBLIC SPHERE: AN ANALYSIS OF COMMUNITY RADIO IN THAILAND (1997-2021)

Radio broadcasting policies and practices in Thailand have long been affected by political uncertainties, starved of financial support and therefore left with little technical progression. This research examines Thailand’s approach to public service broadcasting (PSB) through a theoretical framework of public sphere and market failure. Comparative media systems are also applied as an analytical framework to show media ecosystems where PSB can exist.

This research has two objectives: to examine the development of radio as a public sphere in Thailand and the influences in the policy making process; and to identify the implications of radio broadcasting policies between 1997 and 2021 in order to achieve feasible practices of a public sphere. To reach the research objectives, the thesis research questions about radio broadcasting in Thailand between 1997 and 2021 are framed around the analysis of policy development, and the analysis of policies and practices in terms of their aspirations and objectives.

To answer two research questions, this research has been conducted through examination of policy documents associated with Thailand’s constitutions and acts related to radio broadcasting, together with semi-structured interviews of seventy stakeholders, including personnel attached to the regulator, politicians, personnel from government and military organisations as well as personnel in local radio stations and advocacy groups, academics and reporters.

The research has found that radio broadcasting in Thailand has been controlled by government authorities through their frequency ownership and the Thai top-down governmental system, while local radio stations resist legitimate authorities in order to survive and serving public sphere. It is suggested that better administrative and technological skills are required for local radio stations, and championing the concept of PSB is essential to support people empowerment in a democratic society through participatory spaces of Thai radio broadcasting.