Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai politician and businessman who served as the 23rd prime minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006.
Thailand has a well-developed mass media sector, especially by Southeast Asian standards. The Thai government and the military have long exercised considerable control, especially over radio and TV stations. During the governments of Thaksin Shinawatra and the subsequent military-run administration after the 2006 coup and military coup of 2014, the media in Thailand—both domestic and foreign—have suffered from increasing restrictions and censorship, sometimes subtle, sometimes overt.
Sondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul, conspiracy theorist, pro-Beijing anti-democracy reactionary activist, demagogue, and leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD). He was elected leader of the New Politics Party (NPP).
Panthongtae Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and the only son of former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra. He became a billionaire after having been transferred a large portion of his father's stock in Shin Corporation shortly before Thaksin became prime minister.
Somkid Jatusripitak is a Thai economist, business theorist, and politician.
In 2005 and 2006, a series of events occurred in Thailand as a result of public anger with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra that was supported by Sondhi Limthongkul and his coalitions. It led a military coup that concluded in the overthrow of the Thai Rak Thai government in September 2006, the flight of Thaksin after the court verdict, and the establishment of the junta government led by Surayud Chulanont, a favourite of privy councillor and senior statesman Prem Tinsulanonda.
ITV was a television station in Thailand that was owned by iTV Public Company Limited, a unit of Shin Corporation. As Thailand's first UHF channel, the station was started in 1995 when the company was granted a 30-year concession by the Office of the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office to operate a free-to-air television station in the Ultra High Frequency (UHF) spectrum at 510-790 MHz. After a lengthy dispute over unpaid concession fees to the Prime Minister's Office, the government's Public Relations Department took over the station in 2007. Its name was changed to Thailand Independent Television (TITV). Following a previously unannounced order of Thailand's Public Relations Department delivered the same day, the station closed on January 15, 2008. In accordance with the Public Broadcasting Service Act B.E.2551(2008), the channel's frequency was assigned to the Thai Public Broadcasting Service.
Muangthai Raisabdah is a Thai political talk show hosted by Sondhi Limthongkul and Sarocha Pornudomsak. The show is Sondhi's personal mouthpiece, and up to 2004 it praised Premier Thaksin Shinawatra. Later, when relations between the two soured, it became one of the Premier's most vocal critics. In September 2005, the show was cancelled by its broadcaster, MCOT, after Sondhi allegedly made on-air comments disrespectful to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Sondhi started independently broadcasting his show via satellite and internet, turning tapings into rallies against the government. In February 2006, Sondhi co-founded the People's Alliance for Democracy and the show was incorporated into the PAD's anti-Thaksin rallies.
Sarosha Pornudomsak, born 11 November 1976 in Bangkok, is a freelance broadcast journalist who is fluent in Thai and English and knowledgeable in international news.
The 2006 Thai coup d'état took place on 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'état against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The coup d'état, which was Thailand's first non-constitutional change of government in fifteen years since the 1991 Thai coup d'état, followed a year-long political crisis involving Thaksin, his allies, and political opponents and occurred less than a month before nationwide House elections were scheduled to be held. It has been widely reported in Thailand and elsewhere that General Prem Tinsulanonda, a key person in the military-monarchy nexus, Chairman of the Privy Council, was the mastermind of the coup. The military cancelled the scheduled 15 October elections, abrogated the 1997 constitution, dissolved parliament and the constitutional court, banned protests and all political activities, suppressed and censored the media, declared martial law nationwide, and arrested cabinet members.
Surayud Chulanont is a Thai politician. He was the prime minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's interim government between 2006 and 2008. He is a former supreme commander of the Royal Thai Army and is currently Privy Councilor to King Vajiralongkorn.
Khun Ying Potjaman Damapong, formerly Potjaman Shinawatra, née Soypetpotjaman Damapong is the ex-wife of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and mother of the current prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
William L. Monson was an American businessman.
People's Television (PTV) was a Thai satellite television station. It was established by former executives of the Thai Rak Thai party after the 2006 Thailand military coup overthrew the Thai Rak Thai-led government. It launched despite warnings from the Council for National Security, the military junta that seized power. PTV executives insisted that if ASTV could operate, then so could PTV.
TrueVisions is the biggest provider of a cable analog television (CAtv) and digital satellite television (DStv) gateway operator’s in Thailand. So, TrueVisions is one of subsidiaries business department of True Corporation. Until February 2007, it was formerly known as United Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), United Television Cable Network (UTV) under MCOT licensed and International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) under CAT Telecom licensed
The Thai Public Broadcasting Service, or Thai PBS, is a public broadcasting service in Thailand. It was established by the Thai Public Broadcasting Service Act, BE 2551 (2008), which came into force on 15 January 2008. Under this act, Thai PBS holds the status of state agency with legal personality, but is not a government agency or state enterprise.
Yingluck Shinawatra is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the 28th prime minister of Thailand following the 2011 election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision.
Thepchai Yong is a Thai newspaper and television journalist known for his reporting on corruption and his criticism of the governments of Suchinda Kraprayoon and Thaksin Shinawatra.
Mom Luang Nattakorn Devakula is a Thai host and television moderator. He is a former candidate of 2009 Bangkok gubernatorial election.
ASTV was a Thai satellite television station and network operating from 2004 to 2014, after which it rebranded as News1. Originally operating under Manager Media Group, the station was established by Manager founder Sondhi Limthongkul, a prominent critic of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and operated as an ultra-partisan political news channel promoting an anti-Thaksin viewpoint. It played a role in popularizing massive protests by the Sondhi-led group the People's Alliance for Democracy, which led to political crises that helped bring down Thaksin-aligned governments in 2006 and 2008.
