Thai government to temporarily take over private TV station

[BGonaSTICK]

Thailand’s army-installed government said today it will temporarily take the nation’s only private TV broadcaster off the air at midnight, after it failed to pay $2.8 billion in fines and overdue fees. The station, iTV, will re-open under government control, possibly by Friday, said Dhipavadee Meksawan, the minister attached to the premier’s office. The government will ask its top legal advisers, known as the Council of State, to review the technicalities of the takeover before the station returns to the airwaves, she said. ”So iTV will be shut down temporarily, probably until Friday, until we receive an answer from the Council of State,” she told reporters.

The station lost a court battle in December over how much news content it was required to provide under the terms of its concession. The station had until midnight Tuesday to pay the fine, but has not been able to come up with the money. The battle over the fate of iTV marks Thailand’s latest skirmish with companies controlled by Shin Corp, a telecom giant founded by deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Shin Corp was bought last year by Singapore’s state-linked investment firm Temasek, sparking a popular uproar that eventually led to the coup against Thaksin in September. Singapore’s Temasek now holds about 53 percent of iTV through Shin Corp, which critics say gives undue influence over Thai media to a foreign country.

Source: AFP