(5 September) The
National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced a new rating system for
state-owned TV channels.
Under the new guideline, the so-called ?Free TV? channels have to
label their programmes and reschedule their shows to comply in the following
categories:
?Primary? – content suitable for pre-primary school aged
children
?Children? – content suitable for children between 6-12 years
old
?General? – content suitable for general audiences
?PG 13?
– content suitable for people aged 13 and above, but can be watched by those who are under the
recommended age if parental guidance is provided. Under this category, the content can be shown on
TV between 20.30 and 05.00.
?PG 18? – content suitable for people aged above 18 years
old; those who are under 18 must be provided with parental guidance. The programmes can be shown on
TV during 22.00-05.00.
?Exclusive? – content unsuitable for children and youngsters,
and can be viewed on TV only after midnight.
It should be noted that TV programmes in
Thailand are already labelled by certain system of categories, a practice criticised by rights group
as nanny-state censorship and ridiculed by some Netizens for its confusing standards.
For
instance, many on the social network have been left scratching their heads after an obviously
harmless cartoon series was rated ?PG18? by the NBTC, whereas a soap opera featuring a rape scene
wore the label ?PG13?.
The NBTC has not publicly commented on the incident, which is being
circulated widely on the Thai social network.
Correction: The original version of this
article has incorrectly identified the Primary rating as applied to primary school-aged children.
It should have read pre-primary school-aged children.
