Three things:
The press release says that the government said existing laws don't take into account allowing an exchange to trade a virtual currency (yet).
The article sensationalizes this by saying "banned", implying that it was legal before.
Lastly, the author of the article seems to think without an exchange, Bitcoin can't be traded, which of course is false. So, by "banning" the existence of a commercial exchange, the author concludes that Bitcoin entirely has been banned in the country.
I could be missing something, but I don't think Bitcoin has been banned in Thailand as barter.