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Published on July 21, 2007

The draft manual said TV programmes with a few scenes about sex, violence and "wrong grammar" would be allowed on air between 9am and 4pm on weekdays, and between 8pm and 5am on Saturdays and Sundays.

Dhipavadee, however, confirmed that these TV programmes would be banned only four hours a day - a period from 4pm to 8pm.

Dhipavadee, speaking at a meeting attended by academics and TV station representatives, said many foreign countries usually allocated airtime to children's TV programmes based on the percentage of children in the overall population.

"In England, children under 18 years of age account for 15 per cent of the total population. So TV programmes for children receive 15 per cent of the airtime," she said.

She said children accounted for 17 per cent of Thailand's population and thus they deserved 17 per cent of air time. However, the current TV schedule has allocated a mere two per cent of air time to programmes for children. Thai children's intelligence quotient is about 103 on average, while foreign children's intelligence quotient is between 110 and 120.

"TV can facilitate children's development," Dhipavadee said.

Mayuree  Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation