Thai PBS – State Media Monitor

The Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS) is Thailand’s national public broadcaster, officially established in 2008 following the enactment of the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, B.E. 2551. Its origins, however, trace back to the controversial transformation of iTV, a privately owned television network that had come under fire for allegedly breaching its broadcast licence by altering its programming lineup without prior approval. In response, the interim Surayud administration in 2006 convened a task force to study the conversion of iTV into a public service media outlet. This led to the eventual birth of Thai PBS—a broadcaster envisioned as free from both commercial and political interference.

Media assets

Television: TPBS, ALTV

State Media Matrix Typology

Captured Public/State-Owned Media (CaPu)

Ownership and governance

Thai PBS was instituted as an independent legal entity under the 2008 Act, structured to function outside the traditional orbit of government control. It is not classified as a government agency or a state enterprise, but rather as a public organization endowed with legal personality. The legislative design deliberately placed firewalls between the broadcaster and the political establishment, particularly in the process of board appointments. A Policy Board, insulated from executive control, oversees strategic direction and ensures adherence to journalistic standards and ethical norms.

Wilasinee Phiphitkul is the Director General of the Thai Public Broadcasting Service (Thai PBS), a role she has held since at least 2021. With a background in communications, media policy, and organizational development, she has played a key role in strengthening Thai PBS’s positioning as a public service broadcaster amid shifting political and technological landscapes.

Source of funding and budget

A defining feature of Thai PBS is its funding mechanism, carefully crafted to protect its editorial independence. To insulate the broadcaster from the shifting tides of political favour and to avoid dependence on annual parliamentary allocations, Thai PBS is financed through earmarked excise revenues—commonly referred to as “sin taxes”—levied on products and services considered socially harmful, such as alcohol and tobacco.

This funding model provides a fixed annual subsidy of THB 2 billion (approximately USD 62.6 million in 2021), which allows Thai PBS to operate without direct state budgetary negotiation, at least in theory.

Official financial reporting is sparse, and no credible sources have disclosed updated profit or surplus/loss metrics. Thai PBS remains non-commercial and fully reliant on public excise‑tax funding.

Editorial independence

Thai PBS was conceived with the mission of serving the public interest through impartial and balanced programming, independent from government diktats. The creation of a Viewers Committee, tasked with monitoring content and gathering public feedback, was a further step toward enhancing transparency and accountability to audiences rather than politicians.

While the broadcaster has historically managed to walk a fine line between independence and its proximity to state structures, it has not been immune to political pressures. Government officials have, on numerous occasions, publicly expressed dissatisfaction with what they perceive as insufficient coverage of government activities, arguing that since Thai PBS is funded through state-collected revenues, it has an implicit duty to promote government-related news.

Despite such pressures, Thai PBS earned a longstanding reputation for resisting interference and maintaining a relatively independent editorial line, especially when compared with other Southeast Asian broadcasters.

In recent years, however, concerns have emerged that Thai PBS’s editorial autonomy is under increasing strain. The broadcaster faced strong criticism in late 2023 after it removed an interview with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, allegedly following direct diplomatic pressure from the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. Media professionals described the incident as “alarming” and emblematic of a broader erosion in editorial freedom.

Interviews conducted in early 2024 and March 2025 with both internal staff and external media analysts painted a mixed picture. While some journalists characterized the Taiwan incident as an exception rather than the rule, a significant number expressed unease over what they viewed as a growing pattern of capitulation to government demands. Multiple sources indicated that when the government seeks the removal of specific content, Thai PBS no longer has the institutional strength, or political backing, to push back.

In March 2025, Thai PBS came under fire for publishing—and then retracting—an opinion piece that appeared to glorify dictatorship, praising past authoritarian leaders and suggesting nostalgia for “strong leadership” as economically beneficial. Critics, notably a law professor at Thammasat University, condemned the one‑sided framing and misleading implications. Thai PBS issued a public apology, removed the article, and pledged transparent internal review and corrective action.

Given these developments, Thai PBS was formally reclassified in 2024 from the Independent Public (IP) category to the Captured Public/State-Owned/Managed Media (CaPu) category in the State Media Monitor typology.

August 2025