Dr Wanchai Danaitamonut, a lecturer at Phranakhon Rajabhat University, shot himself after a stand-off with police who were seeking his arrest in connection with the murder of two colleagues.

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) subcommittee on TV programming and scheduling, chaired by Peerapong Manakit, yesterday asked ThaiRath TV, TNN 24, Springnews TV and Nation TV, which is part of the Nation Multimedia Group, to explain their reasons for continuing to broadcast as Wanchai negotiated with police and threatened to kill himself.

The broadcasting regulator has not punished the operators yet but has issued warnings.

Last week, four of five members of the NBTC’s broadcasting committee agreed to issue warning letters to the broadcasters and ordered all TV networks to stop live broadcasting in such circumstances, saying it could constitute a violation of Section 37 of the Broadcasting and Television Business Operations Act BE 2551 (2008).

The decision by broadcasters to pre-empt normal programming to show the negotiations and eventual suicide may have also broken other regulations related to TV programming and scheduling.