The East-West Center’s media conference in Bangkok (”Changing Dynamics in the Asia Pacific”) opens today (Sunday, Bangkok time) with lots of news popping up around the region and right here in the conference city.
Tensions in Korea, the Beijing Olympics and bioterrorism are among the many scheduled topics up for discussion.But delegates are likely to spend a little time talking about the news in Bangkok, as well. Thailand has just formed a new government, and today’s headlines are full of the details of the six-party coalition, led by the People Power party. The government begins work on Monday.
In his welcoming message to the delegates, Suwat Thongthanakul , President of the National Press Council of Thailand, notes that the new government will be “ironically led by a party whose government was topped in a bloodless coup almost two years ago.”
That’s politics, and fodder for conversation.
On the media front, the big news is the dissolution of the independent television station, TITV, which will be replaced by a government-supervised Thailand Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS).The hopeful vision is for a Thai version of the venerable BBC. But some worry that’s too lofty a goal, right now, for this fledgling operation. Will this be a hard-hitting independent voice, as is promised, or might it become a government mouthpiece?
Another question is what happens to the hundreds of people employed by the former TITV. They’re welcome to apply at the new operation, but no promises of employment have been made. It’s likely technicians will have an easier time transferring over than journalists, but who knows?
In any event, news is bubbling up around the region and right here in conference city as the Center’s media conference gets underway.