The press corps associations are urging the telecom regulator to force digital television operators which plan to return their broadcasting licences, to compensate their employees with three months of salary.
This request is one among five that the press corps recently submitted to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The press associations consist of the National Union of Journalists Thailand, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, the Thai Journalist Association, the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand and the National Press Council of Thailand.
Seven digital TV channels had submitted letters of intent to return their licences and leave the business by May 10, leaving 15 channels on air.
The move came after the regime invoked Section 44 on April 10 to give assistance to digital TV operators, including allowing them to exit the sector without additional financial penalties.
The channels that will shut down will receive compensation based on the remaining valid term of their licences.
According to the press group's statement, the departure of the TV operators from the sector will take a toll on employees who will be laid off.
The group has formed a coordination centre to monitor the sector's situation following the Section 44-based directive.
They said Takorn Tantasith, the NBTC's secretary-general, who chairs a committee responsible for ironing out compensation amounts for the operators who return the licences, should try to persuade the operators to follow through on the five requests made by the group.
In addition to urging operators to pay the three months of salary in compensation to their employees, the press corps are calling on operators to carefully and fairly evaluate the dismissal of their workers.
For the operators that will continue operations, they need to produce fair work contracts for their employees, the group said.
According to the group, the NBTC's Broadcasting Telecommunications Research and Development Fund for the Public Interest should provide financial support for skills training for the affected employees.
