PRIME Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday instructed government legal experts including Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam to look into differences over the controversial media regulation bill to try to find the best solutions.

He said the government would take a rounded view of the bill as a way to “enhance” the quality of media practitioners.

“The thing is, we have to listen to all sides and find a way to increase their [media professionals’] quality,” Prayut said.

“Media organisations, editors and reporters all have to be responsible. If they can think of a way to regulate themselves, while at the same time being able to connect to the government, then [they should] propose it to us. I insist that we adhere to the principle of non-interference in your work and support you.”

On Monday, the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) voted by 141 to 13 to endorse its media committee’s reform proposal, which included the draft bill. The draft will be forwarded to the government for further review, including possible legal enactment.

Media groups have strongly opposed the bill because of fears of state control and interference. The initial draft would have established a “professional council” that would regulate the media, including at least two state permanent secretaries sitting alongside other council members, and the council’s authority to grant and revoke licenses for journalists.

The bill would have included penalties of up to three years in jail, fines of up to Bt60, 000 or both for practising journalism without a license.

In the face of strong media opposition, ACM Kanit Suwannet, chairman of the NRSA media committee, removed the licensing requirement along with the penalties, replacing the provisions with a requirement for certification instead.

General media users affected

Representatives from 30 media organisations went to meet the prime minister before the Cabinet meeting yesterday to submit a letter expressing their persisting concerns directly to him.

They said they were still concerned about the media council, fearing it would allow the state to take part in the industry despite the press having a role to monitor officials’ use of power.

They also said the draft defined media practitioners too broadly, meaning it would cover not only media professionals but also general media users, who could be regulated by mechanisms proposed in the draft. The group added that the new Constitution guaranteed media freedom.

“We support media self-regulation where laws may be issued to recognise the status of the media,” the group said. “But the law must not aim to punish the media and be pushed without having holistic opinions from related parties.”

Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam said it was possible the government would disagree with the draft bill proposed by the NRSA before it was forwarded to the Council of the State, the Cabinet’s legal advisory arm, for amendments.

Wissanu said every draft bill was subject to review to determine if it was in line with the Constitution, while those that violated the charter would be scrapped. But he added that he could not say if the media draft violated the new charter’s Article 35, which guarantees press freedom, as he had not yet seen the bill.

Meanwhile, Kanit said his committee had instructed officials to examine Monday’s NRSA debate on the draft bill to see which member recommendations would be useful for its final draft.

Kanit said they would look carefully at recommendations and not pick extreme or impractical ideas, including the “execution” of members of the media, which was threatened during the meeting due to high emotions expressed by some NRSA members.