Digital Television in Thailand

The evolution of TV technology from analogue to
digital brings about changes in TV industry.
Thailand s TV industry has also adopted and used
DTV technologies since the late 1990s
in its TV broadcasting. The Thai
government broadcasting regulators are expected to
play a key role in launching and issuing national
DTV policy. However, they seem to be involved in a
conflict of interest which has negatively impacted
Thailand s DTV transition. This study selects
Thailand s TV industry as a case study of a
developing country in response to global
technological transition. The thesis aims to explore
major drives influencing Thai broadcasting in the
shift from analogue to digital. It provides
recommendations vis-à-vis the establishment of
national DTV policy, and the current use of DTV
technologies by Thai TV stations. The research
project was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand, between
Oct 2006 and Oct 2007, after the September coup in
2006. Two research methodologies employed in the
study are (1) in-depth interviews with 26 experts
(TV station administrators and mass communication
scholars), and (2) observations of the nine TV
stations.