Sirakan, S: 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.