"At a time when the people of Thailand were most in need of reliable information, VOA's Thai Service went from broadcasting a 15-minute daily news feed to a daily 60-minute direct broadcast, transmitted via the Internet and on special shortwave frequencies," said VOA Director David S. Jackson. VOA's Worldwide English and Special English, which is designed for non-native speakers, also pre-empted their normal programs to provide live updates focusing on events in Thailand. Said Jackson: "This shows once again how VOA can provide a valuable service to audiences in times of crisis or uncertainty, particularly when local news is unavailable, as it was in this case."
VOA will continue the special programming as events warrant, at the following times and on the frequencies below:
2300-2400 UTC | Thai Language Broadcast | 7215, 9685 |
1130-1200 UTC | Worldwide English Broadcast | 1575 |
1530-1600 UTC | Special English Broadcast | 1575, 6160, 9590, 9760,12040, 15550 |
More VOA coverage of Thailand's political situation can be found at: www.VOANews.com.
The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 100 million people. Programs are produced in 44 languages.