BBC Thai Service ends its broadcast

>BBC's Thai language service aired its final broadcast today on Friday after more than sixty years.

Thai Service was axed along with nine other sections, all of them in European languages, as part of BBC's new restructuring exercise.

The BBC said the money spent on these services will be channeled into setting up a new Arabic-language television service.

Thai service began its broadcast in 1941 and once it was the only independent broadcaster to be heard in Thailand.

Low impact

It broadcasted over an hour a day to half a million audience a week. The service provides news and current affairs, regular feature programme and it also runs its own website.

But the BBC said it became harder to make an impact in an increasingly competitive domestic market.

When the announcement about the closure of the service was made, some five thousand audience, including the former Thai prime minister, have signed a petition to reverse the BBC's