789
The objectives of this study emphasize on the role of Thai Public Broadcasting Services (Thai PBS) in
creating political public sphere through Public Forum and Citizen Journalist program. The thesis additionally
provides the analysis of the formation of the Thai PBS Organization in relation to the media restruction according
to the Clause 40 the Constitution 1997.
Besides field surveys and in-depth interview, the study of the recorded program is included in the thesis
methodology. The results of this thesis were analyzed based on Political Economy of Mass Communication,
Habermas Political Public sphere
and The theory of Media Functionalism.
The research finds that both programs, as a part of Thai PBS, have played an important role in creating
political public sphere by offering the so-called grass-root people, the access to the media and the opportunity to
express their problems and opinions. Those problems and information are continuously publicized and
consequently impact any decision of the Government. However, the created political public sphere is unable to
properly work due to some constraints namely broadcasting time, the consideration to pick up issues and the
cooperation form related organizations.
For the group of people who gain the opportunities to broadcast their problems, the research reveals that
they realize more their basic rights in freedom of speech and their identities in the democracy. And the last finding
points out that audiences’ networking must be strengthened in order to develop Thai PBS into the pure political
public sphere in the near future.
Keywords
: Public Media, Political Public sphere
