Fans have military to thank for live games
Like it or not, football fans here should be grateful to the military which has played a key role in Thailand’s World Cup broadcasting. The first live World Cup match in the Kingdom was the 1970 final between Brazil and Italy.
That happened thanks to the military government’s indirect involvement.
According to reports, the junta kept a close eye on the press and threatened to close down media outlets that published stories against the government led by Prime Minister Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn and Interior Minister Field Marshal Prapas Charusathien.
Fed up with the situation, Thai Rath and Daily News, the country’s leading newspapers, then decided to run news about the 1970 World Cup as their lead stories on their front pages from the opening day.
It proved popular, prompting other newspapers to follow suit.
As the tournament became a hit, a TV station bought the broadcasting rights of the final match.
The following World Cup in 1974, Thais enjoyed two live matches — the opening game and the title decider.
The number of live World Cup matches increased to four during the 1982 finals with two semi-finals games added.
Four live matches were again scheduled for the 1986 finals and that was the turning point in the World Cup broadcasting in Thailand.
Thai fans felt four live games were too few and urged parties concerned to show more matches.
As the calls grew louder, Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the then army chief, became the knight on a white horse by ordering TV Pool, led by army-run Channel 5, to show live games from the quarter-finals.
Thanks to Big Jiew’s intervention, Thais witnessed one of the most controversial moments in World Cup history — Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ which helped Argentina beat England 2-1 in the last eight on their way to winning their second title.
Since the 1990 finals, all World Cup matches have been televised live here without major problems.
But during the 2014 World Cup, RS, Thailand’s broadcaster of the tournament, intended to show only 22 live games on free TV and those who wanted to watch more games had to buy its satellite set-top box.
This caused an uproar as football fans thought this was unfair.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) then sued RS but a court ruled in favour of the company.
In came Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha who ordered the NBTC to pay RS and show live matches on free TV.
After the problem, the NBTC issued a directive that live major sporting events such as the World Cup and the Olympics must also be aired on free TV.
It is known as the ‘must-have’ rule. The regulation scared away potential buyers of the 2018 World Cup broadcasting rights.
Sakol Wannapong, governor of the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT), then lent a helping hand by cajoling seven companies to jointly buy the broadcasting rights with each paying about 200 million baht.
However, it seemed Sakol was not powerful enough so he sought the help of his boss, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon, who is the chairman of the SAT board.
After the purchase was completed a few months ago, it was Gen Prawit who stole the show by presiding over the press conference and announcing the deal.