Thai media experts have urged the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to undertake reform of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), reports Bangkok Post.

Suwanna Sombatraksasook, Chairperson of ISRA News Agency’s legal and mass media policy panel said NBTC failed to launch 12 public and 12 community channels for digital tv.

She accused the commission of failing to regulate media cross-holdings and allowing several media owners in the print and online sectors to own digital TV channels.

She was speaking at a media reform forum organised by Thai Journalists Association earlier this week.

She also said that NBTC was top-heavy with 310 out of a staff of 1083 being high-ranking executives and only 78 staff to supervise radio and TV broadcasting, including tens of thousands of community radio stations.

She suggested splitting NBTC into two organisations, one a telecom regulator and one a broadcasting regulator.