Suab Hmong Broadcasting, The communication sources for Hmong worldwide

Exclusive Interviewed Chiang Mai Hmong Radio

Created on Friday, 23 October 2009 09:16

Chiang Mai Hmong radio program is a part of Thai government radio program broadcasts from the northern part region of Thailand.  The station is located in the city of Chiang Mai. 

Click here to watch SuabHmong exclusive interviewed with Nhia Neng at Chiang Mai Hmong radio program.

During one of my visited to the northern part of Thailand, I was on the evening show to discuss how Hmong life in the USA likes with a Yeng Vang, Radio Anchor.  While I was in Thailand with a delegation from Wisconsin to visit Hmong refugees in Wat Thamkrabot, Chiang Mai Hmong radio program was one of the resources that helped to broadcast the messages.

The interviewed I had with Nhia Neng, Radio Anchor, was from 2002.  It was broadcasted through Suab Hmong Radio program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin but it never broadcast on video.

Thailand has 480 radio stations. Many fall under the aegis of the governmental Public Relations Department which is responsible for Radio Thailand, the official government broadcasting station, which transmits the local and international news mandatory broadcast by all Thai stations. Radio Thailand is also the official channel for government information.

Along with the Thai Television Company, Ltd., the Post and Telegraph Department, the Royal Thai Army, Navy, and Air Force, the Police Department, Kasetsart and Chulalongkorn Universities, and the Ministry of Education all operate radio stations. Except for the Education Ministry and Radio Thailand broadcasts, all other stations are commercial and rely heavily on advertising revenue to cover operating costs. Programming tends to resemble the commercial format popular in other countries, with music and talk shows the dominant fare.

In 1955 Thailand was the first country in Southeast Asia to begin the regular television services. Today their are 5 channels including Channel 9 and 11 which are run by the government, Channel 5 and 7 run by the Army leaving Channel 3 as the only Channel run by private enterprise. All stations except channel 11 are commercial.

The programs therefore must meet with the acceptance and appeal of the audience at large, hence the selection and design of which must be properly done. Variety and talk shows are among the most popular and largely imported from the U.S. television series, the Chinese dramas and the Japanese cartoons. Equally popular are the locally produced serialized drama and the quiz game shows. Among the younger audiences the U.S. and Japanese cartoons have won a sizable market. Similarly, the local programs specially designed and created for youth and children are also doing well. Educational programs which are introduced as a part of the courses offered by the open-university are broadcasted to enthusiastic audiences who pursue their studies for the academic degrees through this media. Sports programs, particularly local and overseas soccer, boxing matches, golfing and snooker from local sources and live telecast from overseas are among some of the items that seem to attract great appeal from the Thai public.

Besides the regular channels, Thailand has at least 10 privately owned cable television programs which broadcast in both Thai and English.