Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has denied that he intervened in news coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on army-run TV Channel 5 and said news reports should be free of "excessive analysis".
At Government House on Tuesday, Gen Prayut denied a report he had ordered the army TV station to refrain from presenting news about the war and replace the channel's president.
"I am not involved because I am not the army chief anymore," said the prime minister, who is also the defence minister.
News programmes on the channel were its internal issue and it had a screening committee, he said.
Gen Prayut also said news reports should be based on facts and "excessive analysis was not useful". He said the war was a matter for another region of the world.
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"I'm referring not only to TV Channel 5 but also to others. Excessive analysis will cause problems to the overall image of our country," he said.
The prime minister also denied any connection with the report that TV 5's president would be replaced because its coverage of the war contradicted a government instruction.
The government only laid down a policy that the country should not get involved in the conflict and news reports should be based on facts, Gen Prayut said.
