THAILAND’S telecoms regulator yesterday suspended the operating license of a television channel linked to ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra weeks ahead of a general election, citing national security concerns.

Two programs on Voice TV, Tonight Thailand and Wake Up News, spread information that caused public confusion and divisiveness, said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), without elaborating. “The NBTC ordered Voice TV to improve itself with a suspension of the operating license for 15 days,” said Perapong Manakit, one of the commissioners.

The March 24 election, pitting pro-military and royalist Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha against a populist movement led by Thaksin and his followers, will be the first since a military coup in 2014.

Voice TV is owned by two children of Thaksin, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and who has lived in self-imposed exile since 2008.

Some of the episodes mentioned in a copy of the NBTC order, published by Voice TV, featured interviews with two prime minister candidates from Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party.

(SD-Agencies)