Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2008 Democratizing Communication: Media Activism and Broadcasting Reform in Thailand Monwipa Wongrujira Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION DEMOCRATIZING COMMUNICATION: MEDIA ACTIVISM AND BROADCASTING REFORM IN THAILAND By MONWIPA WONGRUJIRA A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Communication in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008 Copyright © 2008 Monwipa Wongrujira All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Monwipa Wongrujira defended on March 27, 2008 _____________________________ Stephen D. McDowell Professor Directing Dissertation _____________________________ John C. Bertot Outside Committee Member _____________________________ John K. Mayo Committee Member _____________________________ Jennifer M. Proffitt Committee Member Approved: _________________________________________________ Stephen D. McDowell, Chair, Department of Communication _______________________________________ John K. Mayo, Dean, College of Communication The Office of Graduate Studies had verified and approved the above named and committee members. ii For my mom, dad, and my two brothers, who always support me no matter how many times I want to give up. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Perseverance and gratitude are two main concepts frequently repeated by my parents. I found the degree of doctoral philosophy is not about how smart I am. My parents are right; it is about persistence and self discipline. Intelligence could only be a small part of all the assistance I have had to come this far. Besides the support and contribution of my family, help and encouragement from relatives and friends was a significant part of this degree accomplishment. First of all I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Stephen McDowell, for his support and guidance from the beginning to the end of the project. His patience and contribution are critical to the completion of this dissertation. I am also very grateful to my committee members, Dr. John Mayo, Dr. John Bertot, and Dr. Jennifer Profitt for their insightful and constructive comments. Among many contributors to this project are my friends, friends of my friends, former bosses, and coworkers. Some interviewees did not know me personally but still gave their cooperation. I am thankful for their contributions and suggestions. I am thankful to Sopit Wangvivatana for her help during data collection in Thailand. I would like to thank Sue Skornia for proofreading and editing my dissertation. Also, I am grateful to all of my friends for their moral support: Sommai and Larry Purintun, and Sawanee Greer, as well as other Thai friends in Tallahassee. I would like to thank Fulbright and Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University for providing me financial support and opportunity to pursue my doctoral study. Lastly, my gratitude is devoted to my mom, who passed away in the middle of my doctoral study, my dad, and my two brothers for their moral support, love and patience throughout my study. Without them, the project might not have succeeded. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Abbreviations .......................................................................................................... x Abstract .............................................................................................................................. xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Overview ....................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study ..................................................................................................... 3 Significance of the Study .............................................................................................. 4 Conceptual Framework and Research Questions ......................................................... 7 Media Democratization ........................................................................................... 7 Media Reform ......................................................................................................... 8 Media Activism ....................................................................................................... 9 Structure of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE The Context of Communication Policy Reform ......................................................... 14 Democracy Theory and Perspectives on Communication Regulation ....................... 18 Theory of Democracy ........................................................................................... 19 Perspectives on Communication Regulation ........................................................ 20 Debates in Democracy and Communication Policy ............................................. 22 Democratization and Media Reform ........................................................................... 24 Media Democratization ......................................................................................... 24 Media Reform ....................................................................................................... 26 Context of Thai Broadcasting Reform .................................................................. 29 Media Activism ........................................................................................................... 30 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER THREE: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY Introduction ................................................................................................................. 35 Overview of the Research Design .............................................................................. 35 Case Study Research ............................................................................................. 37 Document Research .............................................................................................. 39 Interviews .............................................................................................................. 40 Population and Sample Selection ............................................................................... 41 Cases ..................................................................................................................... 42 Documents ............................................................................................................ 42 Informants ............................................................................................................. 43 Access and Entry ........................................................................................................ 44 Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 45 Document Data ..................................................................................................... 45 v Interview Data ....................................................................................................... 46 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 47 Reliability and Validity ............................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER FOUR: THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF THAI BROADCASTING Political Economy of Thai Mass Media ..................................................................... 53 The Advent of Mass Media .................................................................................. 54 Ownership Structure ............................................................................................. 58 Regulation Structure ............................................................................................. 63 Development of Broadcasting Policy Reform ............................................................ 67 A Significant Shift in May 1992 ........................................................................... 69 CHAPTER FIVE: REGULATORY DEBATES AND MEDIA REFORM Thai State Perspective on Communication Regulation .............................................. 74 The 1997 Constitution and the Initiation of Media Reform ....................................... 76 The People‟s Constitution ..................................................................................... 76 Initiation of Media Reform ................................................................................... 79 Organization for Frequency Allocation Act of 2000 .................................................. 83 Broadcasting Business Bill ......................................................................................... 87 Independent Regulatory Agency ................................................................................ 90 Stakeholder Analysis .................................................................................................