The media

To keep you abreast of world affairs, there are several English-language newspapers in Thailand, though various forms of censorship (and self-censorship) affect all newspapers and the predominantly state-controlled media.

Newspapers and magazines

Of the hundreds of Thai-language newspapers and magazines published every week, the sensationalist daily tabloid Thai Rath attracts the widest readership, with circulation of around a million, while the moderately progressive Matichon is the leading quality daily, with an estimated circulation of 600,000.

Alongside these, the two main daily English-language papers are the Bangkok Post (Imagebangkokpost.com) and the Nation (Imagenationmultimedia.com), but you’ll get a more balanced idea of what’s going on in Thailand at Imagekhaosodenglish.com, which is owned by Matichon. Both the Post and Nation are still sold at many newsstands in the capital as well as in major provincial towns and tourist resorts; the more isolated places receive their few copies one day late. Details of local English-language newspapers, magazines and listings publications and websites are given in the relevant Guide accounts.

You can also pick up foreign magazines such as Newsweek and Time in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the major resorts. English-language bookshops such as Bookazine and some expensive hotels carry air-freighted, or sometimes locally printed and stapled, copies of foreign national newspapers for at least B50 a copy; the latter are also sold in tourist-oriented minimarkets in the big resorts.

Television

There are six government-controlled, terrestrial TV channels in Thailand: channels 3, 5 (owned and operated by the army), 7 (operated under license from the army) and 9 transmit a blend of news, soaps, sports, talk, quiz, reality and game shows, while the more serious-minded public-service channels are NBT, owned and operated by the government’s public relations department, and the state-funded but more independent PBS. Cable networks – available in many guesthouse and hotel rooms – carry channels from all around the world, including CNN from the US, BBC World News from the UK and sometimes ABC from Australia, as well as English-language movie channels and various sports, music and documentary channels.

Radio

Thailand boasts over five hundred radio stations, mostly music-oriented, ranging from Eazy (105.5 FM), which serves up Western pop, through luk thung on Rak Thai (90FM), to Cat (formerly Fat) Radio, which streams Thai indie sounds 24hr on its website (Imagethisiscat.com) and app. Met 107 on 107 FM is one of several stations that include English-language news bulletins.

By going online or with a shortwave radio (BBC only), you can listen to the BBC World Service (Imagebbc.co.uk/worldserviceradio), Radio Australia (Imageradioaustralia.net.au), Voice of America (Imagevoanews.com), Radio Canada (Imagercinet.ca) and other international stations.

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