Prime Minister's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey on Wednesday said the government will take action against community radio stations that have been found violating the law.

Mr Sathit said the government has received many complaints about community radio stations violating the rights of others and trying to gain political benefits. He said many of the stations are in the northern provinces, and about five of them are in Chiang Mai and Lamphun.

The Government Public Relations Department (PRD) and the National Telecommunication Commission of Thailand (NTC) will take care of those stations, and the NTC will call a meeting to draft regulations to deal with this problem seriously, he said.

The minister also called on relevant units to use the existing regulations to penalise the stations committing illegal activities because social problems could arise if they are left unpunished.

The government will not be biased in dealing with community radio stations, whether they are on the yellow-clad People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) side or the red-shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) side.