This morning, I was able to catch the first thirteen minutes of Radio Thailand‘s English language service on 9,390 kHz shortwave. I was curious if RT would mention the Thailand military coup or at least broadcast a sanctioned message from the military authorities. Yet I heard no mention of the coup whatsoever. And why not? Yesterday, General Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered all domestic TV and radio outlets to halt normal broadcasting and only include content the military provides. 

I was only able to record the first 13 minutes of the RT evening news as we had a powerful thunderstorm that forced me to unplug my external antenna. You’ll note the static crashes in the recording.  

The format sounds like a typical RT broadcast, save the lack of national news; instead, the hosts jump straight into global news, mentioning Nigeria, the Philippians, and the economy. Here’s the recording:

As a contrast, here is a recording SRAA contributor, Frank, made of Radio Thailand on May 14th, prior to the coup:

It will be interesting to hear how the nature and content of RT’s news changes with time while the country is under martial law.

Many thanks to Andy who shares this article from BBC News. Here’s a clip:

“The day after the military takeover in Thailand, television and radio remains blacked out and under military control.

Instead, viewers and listeners are being fed a diet of traditional music interspersed with orders and announcements from the country’s new military rulers.

Each of the announcements – around 20 so far on the first day of military rule – is read out several times over both television and radio.

Other forms of communication, such as print media, the internet, landline and mobile phones have not been affected so far, although all media have been requested to refrain from criticism of the military authorities. [Continue reading…]

Reports from shortwave radio listeners are similar: many heard announcements in Thai along with patriotic music on Radio Thailand. I attempted to listen the the RT broadcast targeting eastern North America at 00:00 UTC on 15,590 kHz, but the signal was simply too weak. I could only hear a faint woman’s voice in the static.

If you are able to hear Radio Thailand where you live, consider recording a broadcast for the Shortwave Radio Audio Archive Click here to view for a comprehensive Radio Thailand schedule.