Dr Somkiat Takkijwanich, however, warned against giving a special status to TITV - a practice he said was risky in making it another state-run station under the Public Relations Department in the long run. He did not explain why.

"A special decree should be issued to make TITV a temporary body under the PM's Office Ministry, then it becomes a public organisation under the Public Visual and Audio Broadcast Service Bill later on," he explained.

Somkiat was proposing a number of ideas worked out by TDRI in line with a research it was conducting on how to establish a television station for children, family and education. The project is funded jointly by the National Health Foundation and the Thai Health Promotion Foundation.

The bail-out effort for TITV was proposed in a six-point package titled Option Two - setting up whole new television stations or transforming existing ones, or launching production operations to produce television programmes to serve particular purposes.

The TDRI also issued definitions for independent TV stations - editorial independence, free from political interference, ability to produce quality programmes, work ethics and professionalism and social responsibilities - and open to checks and balances. Public participation should be welcome in their operations.

Under Option One, a prime minister and a Cabinet are advised to push for media reform as

a national agenda, while a legislative body is advised to initiate a legal promulgation process to work out a law governing public broadcast services with the public being advised

to get more involved in initiating the process themselves.

Meanwhile, PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan will hold a meeting of the Civil Service Commission to discuss the possible establishment of a special administration to further run TITV.  A petition was submitted by National Legislative Assembly member Karun Sai-ngarm to an Assets Examination Committee over the government's current handling of TITV.

If approved, the administration would temporarily operate TITV.

Dhipavadee said she had instructed the National Statistical Office to conduct an opinion survey to compile ideas from the public on how they think the TITV should be operated in the long run.