BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- Thailand's military-installed government took over the country's only independent television station Tuesday and said it would be temporarily pulled off the air after it failed to pay millions of dollars in unpaid license fees.

The takeover was expected after the government announced last week it would terminate ITV's license on Tuesday -- the deadline for paying nearly 100 billion baht ($3 billion) in fines, unpaid broadcasting license fees and interest.

Dhipavadee Meksawan, a minister in the prime minister's office, told reporters the station would be shut starting Wednesday but could resume broadcasts as early as Friday if government legal experts could resolve legal issues for the transition to new ownership.

She said the network would be managed by the government's Public Relations Department until a new operator is hired.

ITV -- which stands for Independent TV -- was once controlled by Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a September coup.

The military replaced Thaksin with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, who initially pledged that ITV would continue broadcasting without interruption despite the expected government takeover.

"My intention is to have free media but if it has legal ramifications then we'll have to do what's right," he told reporters.

Government officials had previously said none of ITV's 1,010 employees would lose their jobs.

The network is part of Thaksin's former telecommunications empire, Shin Corp., which was sold to the Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings, in January 2006.

The Thai government is investigating several aspects of the January 2006 Shin Corp. deal, which was at the center of a political crisis that led to Thaksin's ouster.

The deal drew widespread protests, with critics saying it was structured to avoid taxes and that it placed strategic assets -- such as communications satellites owned by subsidiary Shin Satellites -- in the hands of foreigners.

The government's case against ITV dates back to 2002 and is separate from the Shin Corp. scandal. But the decision Tuesday is, nonetheless, another setback for Shin's image.

ITV was set up in 1992 in the aftermath of bloody pro-democracy street protests, as part of a broad movement to report news impartially. All television stations until then were owned by the military or the government and had been restricted from broadcasting the 1992 protests that overthrew Thailand's then-military-backed government.

After Shin Corp. took over ITV in 2001, the network drew criticism for lacking impartiality, particularly in its coverage of Thaksin's administration. Under Shin Corp, ITV was offered a lower annual concession fee and was allowed to increase its entertainment content and dilute news coverage.

A court ruled last year that changes made by an arbitrator to the terms of its concession contract with the government were illegal, prompting the Prime Minister's Office, which granted the concession, to demand the fines, unpaid fees and interest. The station lost its final appeal in December.

Following the government's announcement, ITV broadcast reaction from viewers and employees expressing their support for the network and shock at its imminent closure.

The network had fiercely opposed the idea of temporarily blacking out the station, saying it would hurt ratings and drive away advertisers.

The government's move was the latest in a series of controversial decisions that have sparked concern among investors and the public about the direction of Thailand's military-installed leaders.

Investors have criticized policies, including the imposition of capital controls and new restrictions placed on foreign ownership of Thai companies.

In January CNN's transmission of an interview with Thaksin was blocked by satellite company UBC throughout Thailand after the military ordered the country's news media to refrain from carrying any messages or images of him.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/03/06/thailand.tv.ap/index.html?eref=rss_world 

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A diplomatic row has erupted between Thailand's military junta and the government of nearby Singapore after CNN's exclusive interview with ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Thailand's army rulers issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction that Thaksin had been allowed to meet the Singaporean deputy prime minister.

The meeting was thrust into the limelight when Thaksin broke his four-month public silence by appearing on CNN from Singapore to say "Enough is enough," promising to quit politics for good and expressing the desire to return from exile abroad to private life in Thailand.

Soon afterward, the foreign ministry in Bangkok announced that it was rescinding an invitation to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, scheduled for the end of January, and was freezing a civil-service exchange program with Singapore.

CNN's transmission of the interview with Thaksin was blocked by satellite company UBC throughout Thailand after the military ordered the country's news media to refrain from carrying any messages or images of him.

During the 30-minute interview, to be broadcast in full this weekend on CNNI's "Talk Asia," Thaksin denied a government claim that he was involved in a series of New Year's Eve bombings in Bangkok in which three people were killed.

He described the allegation as "baseless," adding that he had "no involvement at all" in the attacks and expressing "deepest sympathy for those who lost their loved ones and also all those injured."

Asked if he will return to politics in Thailand, the 57-year-old former leader said, "No. No, enough is enough. Six years you serve the countries. You've been working hard. You sacrifice your time, even your life. And even your family life. So it's, it's time for me to go back as a private citizen. And contribute to the Thai society outside political arena."

The message of reconciliation made front-page news in several of Thailand's newspapers, but local TV stations did not broadcast any portions of the interview.

Giles Ungakaporn, a professor of politics at Bangkok University and anti-coup activist, said the media had been threatened.

Army leaders met last week with Thai media chiefs and asked them not to report what Thaksin was saying. Though possible consequences for disobeying were not spelled out, several media commentators and columnists have said the army leaders implied that doing so could result in sanctions or intervention.

One Thai journalist who asked not to be identified told CNN that members of the Thai television news media were practicing "self-censorship," a decision she described as "not right," but unavoidable.

Martial law remains in place throughout Thailand, despite the army's promise made last October to lift it by the end of 2006. A resolution to do so still has not been approved by the country's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Life in Thailand has continued largely as normal since Sept. 19, when tanks rolled onto the streets and, claiming Thaksin was involved in corrupt practices, ousted the democratically elected leader.

Since then, the coup leaders -- who call themselves the Council for National Security -- have failed to present persuasive evidence that would prove their allegations that Thaksin is corrupt.

During its four months in power, the CNS has been accused of committing a series of blunders.

For example, its tax on some portfolio investments caused the stock market to plummet 15 percent in one day, a loss of $23 billion. A policy U-turn the next day exempting equities from the law helped trigger a recovery, but left many economists wondering if the army's leaders were competent to run one of Asia's booming economies.

Other announcements restricting foreign companies operating in Thailand have also unsettled investors.

Together with the clamp-down on the news media and continuing martial law, the reputation of Thailand has become tarnished in the eyes of some in the international community, with the Japan External Trade Organization saying several Japanese firms are considering putting off plans to invest there.

Many are left wondering whether 2007 will be even more tumultuous than were the last 12 months and, crucially, whether Thailand and its 62 million inhabitants are descending toward autocracy and economic decline.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/01/17/thailand.thaksin/index.html