Announcement from RAST
WARC bands authorised in new Amateur Radio Act
Thailand's Intermediate and Advanced class radio amateurs are now
permitted to operate on the so-called WARC bands (10-, 18- and 24-MHz)
as well as in windows in the CW portion of the 80-metre (3.5-MHz) and
160-metre (1.8-MHz) bands on a permanent basis.
The authorisation, granted in a new Act governing amateur radio in
Thailand by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), follows
years of lobbying by the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand (RAST). The
details were published in the Royal Gazette on October 11, 2007,
becoming effective the following day.
Up until this announcement, which is part of a complete revision and
consolidation of amateur radio regulations by the NTC, Thai radio
amateurs had only been able to operate on the 80- and 160-metre bands
during international contests on weekends, while the WARC bands had
been only authorised by the Thai authorities for use during certain
special event stations on a few occasions.
Special permission to operate on the low bands during contests had
been sought by RAST on an annual basis for more than five years to
allow its members to compete internationally while also serving to
demonstrate that there was no interference to other services.
Specifically, the increase in HF spectrum allocated to amateur radio
in Thailand is from 1.800 to 1.825MHz, 3.500 to 3.540 MHz, 10.100 to
10.150 MHz, 18.068 to 18.168 and 24.890 to 24.990 MHz and operators
should respect the International Amateur Radio Union Region 3 band
plan.
No changes were made to the VHF bands, where 6-metres (50-54 MHz) and
1,240 MHz are still off-limits and 430-MHz (70-cm) is authorised for
monitoring only, such as to listen to satellite downlinks. Two metres
(144-MHz) is channelised and minor amendments were made to repeater
allocations.
The full 37-page announcement of the NTC's Amateur Radio Act of 2007
is published in the Thai-language on the web at
http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2550/E/152/10.PDF.
The Radio Amateur Society of Thailand, which is under the Royal
Patronage of His Majesty the King, will make an unofficial translation
available soon as well as explaining some of the points in more detail
at its website: www.qsl.net/rast
Under the new regulations, all club stations in the provinces were
also given 180 days to register as a society which must have a minimum
of 20 members, while there is a requirement that each club station
must operate for at least three hours a day, which is a reduction from
eight hours under the previous regulations.
The syllabus for the amateur radio examination has been revised and a
new requirement for Intermediate class operators who are able to
operate on HF frequencies is that they must be at least 15 years old.
Morse code is retained as a requirement for the Intermediate class
licence with the proficiency in sending and receiving being set at
eight words a minute.
As word of the new regulations and of activity by HS and E2 stations
on the WARC bands spread after several of Thailand's amateur radio
operators began making contacts, so the pile-ups began. Thailand and
CQ Zone 26 are in high-demand by award-chasers, both on the WARC bands
as well as 80- and 160-metres.
Prepared by Tony, HS0ZDX
RAST International Liaison
October 16, 2007
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