First internet radio starts operation

Thimphu, May 19, 2009: One of the private radio stations in Thimphu join hands with a Swiss to start a 24 hour live streaming online. 

The country’s first streaming internet radio station, www.cafebhutan.com, is webcasting from the capital and is available for broadband internet users only. 

The station, opened by a visiting Swiss consultant, Hans J Keller, and run in conjunction with private FM Radio Valley, webcasts Buddhist teachings and Bhutanese music to anyone connected to broadband internet, government mouth piece Kuensel said.

According to its press release, the internet radio station “will be the first to promote Bhutan’s culture and many of the causes associated with its spiritual roots and sense of human justice and dignity.” The station aims to achieve this by webcasting programs, ranging from Buddhist teachings by prominent rinpoches and scholars, to featuring visiting tourists on talk shows. 

Keller, who founded the station, said that, since there was no such stations in Bhutan, the time was right to establish one. “It’s a public service to Bhutan,” he said. Its target audience will mostly be Bhutanese and people interested in Bhutan who reside abroad.