BBC to build new transmitter

BBC to build new transmitter

BANGKOK (Reuter): Buddhist monks joined in a ceremony in central Thailand yesterday to start building of a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio-relay station that should improve reception for listeners from Beijing to Bombay.

The monks blessed a marble foundation stone laid at the transmitter's site in the province of Nakhon Sawan, 240 kilometers north of Bangkok, a British embassy official said.

The station is due to begin broadcasting radio programs in up to 10 languages, including English, by the end of 1996.

The programs relayed from Nakhon Sawan will reach 40 percent of the world's population, Bob Phillis, deputy director-general of the BBC, said in a statement. Thai and British officials signed an agreement last May to build the US$46.8 million short- wave facility.