Long a fixture in Bangkok and Thailand’s troubled southern provinces, community radio has come to Pattaya, serving as both an information resource for residents and a public-relations mouthpiece for city hall.
Thappraya Radio 94.75 officially launched Feb. 14 after a three-month trail run. Nineteen hosts man the airwaves from 7 a.m. to midnight weekdays and 6 a.m. to midnight on weekends.
Station manager Panthakan Phromprangkun works the morning show.
Talk shows take complaints from Pattaya residents while other programs boast of the completion or progress on public works projects started by city hall. Pattaya and national news, traffic, entertainment and other information fill the rest of the time.
Station manager Panthakan Phromprangkun said he has volunteered to head the station after working many years in the radio business.
“I believe Pattaya now has all equipment and tools required to service residents but only lacked the channel to promote and communicate with them,” he said. “Thappraya Radio is proving extremely productive in connecting residents and public officials.”
City hall regulatory enforcement chief Maj. Col. Jeerawat Sukhonzup also works part-time from 7-9 a.m. delivering news. He said he sees the work as just part of his job of serving residents.
“Thappraya Radio is creating a lot of interest among residents as the new station in town,” he said.
