Junta engineers World Cup coup for Thais

The junta that overthrew Thailand's elected government has struck a blow for freedom - the freedom to watch soccer.

As part of its goal to "return happiness to the Thai people," the junta engineered a World Cup coup on Thursday that will enable the country's many soccer fans to watch all of the tournament's 64 matches for free.

The generals acted after Thailand's telecom regulator lost an appeal on Wednesday to have RS International Broadcasting, the exclusive rights holder, air the matches on free TV channels. RS had planned to allow just 22 games to be broadcast for free.

On Thursday, the National Broadcasting and Telecoms Commission announced it had struck a 427 million baht ($A13.98 million) compensation deal with RS so the entire World Cup can be shown on free channels.