Thailand’s Current Situation Regarding Audio Description Service for Television Programs Stakeholders’ Points of View on the Policy Announcements of 2015 and 2016

Abstract

The objectives of this research paper on the current situation in Thailand regarding audio description (AD) service for television programs are to present the points of view of stakeholders with regard to policy and to make recommendations for the development of Thailand’s AD industry.
The information was obtained through a qualitative research method in which In-depth interviews were conducted of representatives of five groups of stakeholders: the visually-impaired television audience, television program sound producers, educators in the mass communication field, television stations, and the organization monitoring communication policy, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NTBC), regarding the audio description (AD) service for television programs provided in the Royal Gazette announcements of 2016 and 2017 on promoting protection of the rights of the disabled to access, gain information about, and utilize programs broadcast by the television industry.
The results of the in-depth interviews showed that currently action was being taken in providing AD service in Thailand only in educational institutions, policy agencies, and television stations, while the visually-impaired television audience and the television sound producers were not aware of any action or developments. The major obstacles to the development of AD in Thailand were: the increasing budgetary requirements for AD production, the lack of AD production personnel, and lack of skill and knowledge in AD production. All groups of stakeholders wanted support from the government while the policy announcements of 2015 and 2016 limited AD production support to news and public-service programs. All stakeholders perceived this as an obstacle in AD development. This limitation of genres does not match the demand of the visually-impaired audiences and mass communication educators, who stated that entertainment programs should also be included, and television stations said that the NTBC should revise this genre limitation to increase the variety and the quantity of AD production in the future.