WHAT OPTIONS FOR THE ECONOMIST?

Managers at The Economist must be fuming, although secretly they might also be reveling in the spotlight that surrounds the non distribution of their weekly magazine in Thailand for the second week running and for the third time inside three months.
In theory there's nothing stopping them mailing copies to their paid subscribers directly from outside Thailand. I believe that was happening anyway until recent weeks. Getting copies to subscribers has to be their number one priority, ahead of getting copies into the shops which is far more complicated.
In the current situation it will be impossible to find a distributor in Thailand that is prepared to risk any kind of action for distributing sensitive material. And the same is true for sales outlets who will not want to sell anything that risks offending the Thai royal family.

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ROYAL MEETING FOR THAI PM IN DAVOS

Thailand's Prime Minister is attending the World Economic Conference in Davos right now, and yesterday he briefly met with His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew The Duke of York.
His Royal Highness had to cancel previous plans to visit Thailand last November following the outbreak of civil violence and subsequent airport closures. He is expected to visit the Kingdom again later in the year.
High level meetings between Abhisit and world leaders, monarchs and dignitaries are so important right now to help restore Thailand's damaged international reputation.

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OUR FIRST AWARD FOR JOURNALISM

The magazine I am responsible for collected it's first award for journalism last week.
The gong was presented by the Information Technology Press Club for a story written by one of my talented journalists in July about cybercrime.
Awards like this are recognition of the excellent job that my team is doing to maintain the global standards of journalism we have to attain with our global brand.
I know they write good stories but when others say it, and rewarded them for it, it means a lot more.

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IT'S CONFIRMED, NO ECONOMIST AGAIN

For the second week running The Economist magazine will not be distributed in Thailand.
Subscribers were informed via email shortly before 4pm this afternoon.
"We deeply regret to inform you that our distributors in Thailand have decided not to deliver the January 31st issue of The Economist in light of our coverage relating to the Thai monarchy" the email says."We appreciate your continued patience and apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. With our compliments, we will be extending your subscription by another week to cover this missed issue."
Reuters has already published a wire story, wrongly attributing Asia Books as the distributor. Asia Books is merely a retailer of the magazine. They also say the decision to not distribute is down to comments critical of the Prime Minister and the army. Personally I feel it's more to do with mentions of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit and His Majesty the King.
I'm guessing the business managers at The Economist are frantically looking for alternative distribution methods for the little over 6,000 copies that arrive in Thailand each week.

Thank you once again to regular readers for the tip-offs.

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TROUBLE AGAIN FOR THE ECONOMIST ?

I wonder if The Economist could face problems again this week?
A story about the Kingdom's alleged mis-treatment of the Rohingya refugees contains two references to the monarchy that could be deemed unacceptable under Thailand's lèse majesté laws.
A good indicator of potential problems seems to be whether you would expect to read such comments in a Thai-based newspaper or magazine. The answer in this case is a definitely is no.
There is no news from the publisher or distributor, but having seen events of recent weeks it wouldn't be a surprise to me if copies don't make it to the shelves or to subscribers.

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BUSINESS DAY IS BACK

EXCLUSIVE: By The Bangkok Bugle

Business Day, which ceased its print operation in 2005 and online publishing in October 2007, is back in business.
The website of what was, until its demise, Thailand’s third-ranked English language daily newspaper was updated for the first time in 15 months on Tuesday of this week with news of the non distribution of The Economist.
First published in 1995, the five-days-a-week business-focused publication moved to a Monday, Wednesday and Friday print run in November 2005. It later ceased printing altogether but maintained an online presence until October 2007 when updates ended.
At its height Business Day was branded as Thailand’s only English language business newspaper and claimed a 20,000 per day circulation. Last year The Nation changed its direction and now holds the title of ‘Thailand’s biggest business daily’.
Could the renewed website activity be a prelude to the return of the Business Day brand? An email inquiry to Business Day has been acknowledged by the website manager although no comments about future plans have yet been forthcoming.

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DISTORTED HEADLINES ABOUT 'THAT' MAGAZINE

Never let the facts get in the way of a good story, or in these cases the headlines.
Global media coverage of The Economist and its non distribution in Thailand this week has seen some pretty distorted headlines that, at best exaggerate the facts and at worst are just plain wrong. Here are four examples:

Magazine pulled from shelves – Toronto Star
Fact: Copies of the magazine never made into Thailand, let alone onto the shelves.

Thais take Economist off shelves – Gulf Times, Qatar
Fact: Again, no copies were physically removed from any shelves.

Thailand blocks Economist – Straits Times, Singapore
Fact: Thailand’ has not blocked this edition. The decision was taken by the distributor and publisher.

Thailand bans Economist magazine – BBC
Fact: There is no ban in place.

My award for the most accurate headline writing is jointly shared by The Guardian (Economist not circulated in Thailand after monarchy article) and the Chicago Tribune (Distribution of The Economist magazine in Thailand halted because coverage of monarchy). Wordy, yes but factual.

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A LATIN AMERICAN VISITOR

This magazine has to rank as one of the more unusual I've discovered in Thailand.
It's a December 2008 edition of Harvard Business Review is the Latin American edition that is produced from Santiago in Chile. It also still bears evidence of its route to Bangkok - a "When you have finished reading this magazine please return it to crew member as a courtesy to our future passengers" sticker from LAN, the national airline of Chile.
Regular readers of The Bangkok Bugle will have no problems figuring out this magazine ended up on sale at Chatuchak market.

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FACT: ECONOMIST READERS' LEGAL ACTION ?

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) suggested yesterday that readers of The Economist in Thailand should consider legal action as a result of the non distribution of two recent issues. The story says: "FACT would be happy to work with any regular readers of The Economist print edition to file a lawsuit. Seems to us to violate fair trade, among much else."
I'm not a legal expert but I do feel that subscribers would have a much better chance of victory as opposed to mere regular readers. The latter has no contract whatsoever with the publisher, although it would certainly be an interesting case to monitor if it does happen.

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WAS ECONOMIST DECISION PREMATURE?

Reporters without Borders has commented on The Economist issue with a press release condemning the Thai government's decision to ban distribution of this week's issue. The release says: " Reporters Without Borders condemns yesterday’s decision by the Thai government to ban distribution of the 22 January issue of the London-based Economist magazine ..."
The fact is the magazine has NOT been banned. The decision to withhold distribution was taken by a commercial organization, and given the potentially offending story remains freely accessible in Thailand some five days after first appearing on the Internet it's possible that decision was premature. We will never know if the current issue would have been subject to an official ban if the publisher and distributor had distributed as normal.
I am not denying there are wider issues surrounding this case, however it's a constant frustration to see issues being incorrectly reported by news media and organizations that should know better.

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DATA FROM THE PUBLISHING SECTOR

The Thai 101 blog has a very interesting and informative post about the Thai book publishing industry. It's full of some fascinating facts and figures, including what appears to be a 100 per cent increase in the number of bookshops between 2006 and 2007. I'd urge you to have a read.
Data shows that although small, the book publishing industry was growing up until 2007. I'm guessing that's in contrast to the magazine industry, although there are no official figures available in this sector, not even from The Magazine Association of Thailand.
Research compiled for the FIPP (International Federation of the Periodical Press) World Magazine Yearbook 2007/08 revealed Se-ed, Thailand's largest book chain, sold 1,043 different newspapers and magazines during the year ending 2005. This was down almost 25 per cent from the previous year. I'm guessing the decline has continued although no figures have been published for subsequent years.
That same research claimed 36.85 per cent of the Thai population were regular readers of magazines, with almost a 60/40 female to male split. It also revealed unemployed people were responsible for 28.97 per cent of readers !

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ECONOMIST ISSUE GETS GLOBAL COVERAGE

I'm a little surprised at the amount of news media coverage of the non-distribution of this week's edition of The Economist in Thailand. I'm going to indulge in a little trumpet blowing and say you read it here first - more than 48 hours before the wire services picked it up. Thanks again for the tip-offs to my regular readers.
There is a fair amount of inaccuracy in some reports. Firstly Asia Books has never been a distributor for The Economist. It's sister company Distri Thai certainly has. What is true is Asia Books is almost certainly the top retailer of the magazine in Thailand so it's a natural 'go to' for quotes in situations like this.

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PUBLISHER EXPANDS INTO REAL ESTATE

Newspaper Direct Krabi, publisher of Krabi Magazine, has signed a three-year contract with real estate broker Exotiq.
"Our well-established publishing business gives us unique access to the best property choices in the Krabi region," says Newspaper Direct's managing director Thomas Gennaro. "We will be in a position to exclusively represent some unique listings."
Krabi becomes the sixth location for the Exotiq real estate brand in Thailand, while Newspaper Direct provides facsimile print editions of more than 800 global newspapers on demand and through a large network of sales outlets throughout Thailand.
Exotiq recently launched its own quarterly property magazine although an expected January-March edition has yet to appear on the shelves or on the company's website.

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PRINT IS DEAD? THINK AGAIN

The January issue of Director magazine has some very heartwarming comments for anyone working in the print publishing industry in Thailand.
The article looks at the value of advertising and includes comments from two of Bangkok's biggest media buying agencies. Wannee Ruttanaphon of Initiative is quoted as saying: "Print allows us to get across a more complex or involved message in terms of information. It lends itself to detail."
Stephanie Bell, the local CEO of industry giant Mindshare is equally positive. She said: "One of the unique things that the magazine industry has is the sense of engagement. A lot of people still make time for their magazine. It's their 'me' time."
It's true the magazines industry must battle like never before, but with supporters like these holding the purse strings things could look a lot worse.

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DIGGING DATA ON THE ECONOMIST

For the second time in two months The Economist has voluntarily suspended distribution of its print edition to Thailand As the publisher said in an email to its subscribers on Saturday morning this is: ".. in light of our coverage relating to the Thai monarchy."
So how many copies are involved?
According to the latest independently audited circulation report a total of 6,528 copies of The Economist were sold in Thailand, roughly five per cent of the 130,117 total circulation of the entire Asia Pacific edition. Using statistics in the report one could estimate around 3,500 of those copies were destined for subscribers. A total of 77 per cent were actively purchased, meaning money changed hands and were not part of any free copy agreement.
Until as recently as December copies were being distributed by one Bangkok-based company. My understanding from industry sources is subscriber copies were being handled directly by the publisher from outside Thailand while a new distributing agreement was being negotiated.
What's so far different about this week's story is that the 'questionable' article remain accessible from within Thailand while the two responsible for the December non-distribution remain censored.

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NO ECONOMIST MAGAZINE, AGAIN

EXCLUSIVE: By The Bangkok Bugle (10.10am)

The Economist will not be appearing in Thailand this week, according to an email sent by the publisher to its subscribers today. It says: "This week our distributors in Thailand have decided not to deliver The Economist in light of our coverage relating to the Thai monarchy."
This is the second time in seven weeks that editions of the magazine have not been distributed in Thailand due to content regarding the Royal family. Online versions of those original stories remained blocked from access within Thailand.
This isn't totally unexpected. Having seen the story online yesterday I blogged: " ..there's a very real possibility that current print editions of some of the global and regional news magazines will face some kind of restrictions. The Economist, for example, has a story that could easily be deemed unacceptable."
It would seem this is a voluntary decision not to distribute, as opposed to a complete ban of The Economist print edition.

Many thanks to a regular reader for the tip-off.

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MAGAZINE MYSTERY: AN UPDATE

As promised I am updating my quest for answers as to how a subscriber copy of Canadian current affairs magazine Maclean's ended up for sale at Bangkok's Chatuchak Market.
I've emailed the subscriber several times but have not yet received a reply. I know I have the correct email address but I can also understand any skepticism they might have when getting an email from someone in Thailand who has their personal details. Next I am planning to send a snail-mail letter by courier and hope that will get some kind of response.
The issue of the personal details is just as important as the reasons how this magazine made its way from Ontario to Thailand. For example, with the details (which are printed directly onto the cover of the magazine) I could log onto the publishers subscriber customer service center and, should I want, redirect future copies of the magazine to a different address.
Rogers Publishing, Canada's largest magazine publishing company and publisher of Maclean's, has so far not responded to my request for comment. Maclean's was established in 1905 and has a reported circulation of more than 350,000 copies per week.
Thanks to everyone that commented on the original post. I will update my search for answers each Friday, or sooner if there are developments to report.

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RIGHT OR WRONG, THE LAW EXISTS

I can't really let this week go by without commenting on the case of Australian author Harry Nicolaides being jailed for three years for the crime of lèse majesté, which is basically insulting the monarchy.
Anyone that works in publishing in Thailand knows both what is permitted by law and also culturally acceptable. That law exists regardless of your opinions of whether that law is right or wrong. Harry has been reported as saying he was unaware of the law.
I've really struggled to find a report about this case in the overseas media that could be described as balanced. All seem slanted against Thailand's laws, and some could easily fall under those exact same laws under which Harry was found guilty. Some directly contravene the judge's order that what Harry wrote should not be repeated. Thailand's web sensors now have a whole new plethora of websites to investigate.
Knowing what I do about the laws and this case, there's a very real possibility that current print editions of some of the global and regional news magazines will face some kind of restrictions. The Economist, for example, has a story that could easily be deemed unacceptable. That's just my impression; it's too early to know if anything will happen.

Note: Dissemination of possible lèse majesté stories is one area that Thailand's web sensors have deemed to be a factor in their censorship decisions. I don't really want to get into trouble, hence the fact I have not linked to anything in this post.

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SPEAKING IN THE WRONG LANGUAGE

I had an email this morning about subscriptions. It was from Nation Group, it was in Thai and it was selling subscriptions to their Thai language business publication Krungthep Turakij. Conveniently they offer an online version of that same direct mail here.
What I find strange, apart from the fact they've sent a Thai language email to someone whose name is obviously not Thai, is the partnership between this Thai language publication and the English language current affairs magazine Newsweek. Sure - it's fine for The Nation itself but how many Krungthep Turakij readers will be confident readers of English to benefit from what Newsweek offers? Personally I'll decline this particular offer if it's all the same.
Incidentally I've had English language subscriptions marketing material from three English language publications this week alone. That says a lot about publishers' desire to boost their guaranteed readers (and revenue) at the moment.

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POST STEALS A MARCH ON NATION

The Bangkok Post were extremely quick off the mark yesterday with their front page image of President Obama swearing the oath of allegiance. Considering this happened around 12.15am that's pretty good going. The Nation is playing catch-up on the story today with its front page image of Barack and Michelle dancing at the Inauguration Ball.
For the record both stories and images were supplied by agencies. In the case of The Bangkok Post they used a Reuters story with AFP image while The Nation used Associated Press copy and a Bloomberg image.

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NEWS WEBSITE MAKES WAVES IN HUA HIN

HuaHinNews.Net was established in June 2007 to fill a gap in everyday information from the coastal town, according to Leszek Myszkowski. He told The Bangkok Bugle: "The website has grown rapidly in and it's now a firm favourite with Hua Hin's expatriate residents and Thai population alike."
The website has benefited from the services of 80-year-old Khun Tuck Dechapanya, a very well known journalist with extensive experience and excellent contacts. This has enabled the website to cover the recent visit of the East Timor President and His Majesty the King's trip to the long boat races at Kao Tao. Leszek added: "We always able to supplement our unique news with many pictures".
The website is run on a not-for-profit basis and is operated by a small team of dedicated volunteers, and is a good example of a Thailand-based news publisher that doesn't need print to flourish.

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BLANKET COVERAGE FOR OBAMA SPEECH

All Thai television stations were carrying live coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration speech shortly after 12am this morning.
All the stations took a live feed from CNN except Channel 9 which had Fox News coverage.
As a media junkie (and due to the inability of my cats to understand the night means sleep) I was awake and watched most of the ceremony. Judging by the lack of traffic on my morning commute this morning it's possible a lot of Bangkokians did the same.

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OBAMA FEVER: GET THE T-SHIRT

Thailand isn't immune from Barack Obama fever, even though the inauguration will be taking place in the very early hours of Wednesday morning Bangkok time.
Last weekend I snapped this enterprising vendor at Chatuchak Market who was selling a range of Obama t-shirts for 179 baht (probably less if I wanted one and was prepared to bargain).
I'll resist mentioning too much today about the copyright infringements relating to the magazine covers used on several of the shirts.

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A MAGAZINE MYSTERY TO SOLVE

I'm on the trail of a little magazine mystery.
Last weekend I was browsing the second hand magazines (right) at Chatuchak Market in Bangkok and found a copy of Canadian current affairs magazine Macleans from late October 2008. What made this copy stand out was the fact it had its subscriber details printed on the cover.
This copy somehow made its way to Thailand from Thunder Bay, Ontario, in Canada. The 'somehow' is what I am already trying to establish, thanks to the power of Google and a reasonably unusual subscriber name.
I'm going to predict the subscriber came to Thailand on holiday and left the magazine behind. It then made its way to Chatuchak where I purchased it for the grand sum of 20 baht.
Let's see what I manage to discover, but does anyone else want to predict how this magazine found its way here?

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NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY

Thailand's only English language television network was advertising a number of vacancies last week. Among positions being advertised were 'news reporters' and 'television cameramen'. What shocked me was these positions were listed 'no experience necessary'.
Perhaps there aren't enough suitably experienced candidates in the market which is why they don't stipulate prior experiences? These are positions for Thai nationals only.

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KEYS TO SUCCESS: BE NICHE, BE ESSENTIAL

This year is already being dubbed 'the year of niche publications' in the magazine industry. Future Plc is the UK's number one specialist publisher with more than 100 titles, and its chief executive Stevie Spring recently summed everything up in a few words. "General interest - bad, special interest - good. Nice to have - bad, need to have - good."
How many magazines in Thailand can truly be classed as "need to have" titles?
Publishers must create that strong desire and must-have mindset in their readers. As Stevie added it will be those particular publishers who will "... weather the storms much better than those producing content that can be had quicker, cheaper, in digestible bite-size chunks online."
Which magazines (Thai or otherwise) would you consider essential to your life?

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A THAILAND VIEW ON SHRINKING MAGAZINES

Both The New York Times and The Guardian have carried recent articles on the advertising page losses being suffered by magazines. "Are we about to see thinner and thinner glossy magazines ... ?" the latter story asks.
Thailand's publishing industry certainly isn't immune from what's being seen around the world, but whereas overseas publishers tend to try to maintain their rate card prices many Thai magazines will accept a lower rate just to get some kind of revenue. I know of one magazine that's getting just a quarter of the price per page it was achieving this time last year.
Another fact to remember is that trimming pages in a magazine from, say, 120 pages down to 100 pages is only likely to reduce overall production costs by between five and eight per cent. In real terms that might only be as little as 10,000 - 15,000 baht although the exact reduction depends on numerous factors including paper quality, number of copies printed, etc.
If publishers are looking to cut costs they probably need to look elsewhere.

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THE NATION 'REGRETS THE ERROR'

Fair play to The Nation. A correction published today in response to the AIS claims yesterday (see below) says: "... it was erroneously reported that the board of Advanced Info Service has met to approve an investment budget. However, there actually was no board meeting. The Nation regrets the error."
Not many Thai publishers bother to issue corrections or clarifications.

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LOST IN TRANSLATION, OR JUST PLAIN WRONG?

News report clarifications to the Stock Exchange of Thailand by listed companies make interesting reading. Every time something incorrect is published a company must issue a clarification to regulators because news has the ability to alter share prices.
Take one example today from The Nation. It reports: "Advanced Info Service's board recently approved an investment budget for this year of between Bt13 billion and Bt15 billion and a marketing budget of about Bt3 billion. The subsequent clarification from the company issued to the Stock Exchange reads: "The company would like to clarify that there was no Board of Directors' meeting to approve this matter."
It's entirely possible the original information got lost in translation or sub-editing, or indeed someone from the company spoke off the record and without approval. I cannot see how a reporter could get something so specific so completely wrong.

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AD SPEND DOWN, FIRST TIME FOR 10 YEARS

Advertising spending in Thailand saw an overall 2.77 per cent decline last year according to data released yesterday by Neilsen Media Research. It's the first decline since the report was first produced 10 years ago.
Newspaper advertising saw a 3.30 per cent decline while magazines were down 4.02 per cent. These sectors are valued at 15.2 billion baht and 5.8 billion baht respectively.
Television remains the most popular form of media advertising in Thailand, accounting for almost 60 per cent of the total spend. Transit advertising - ads on buses for example, saw a 42.26 per cent year-on-year increase, the highest increase of all media.

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FREE CONTENT, VALUABLE BRANDING

One popular United States-based news website is currently offering the Thai language translation rights to its original stories, simply in return for branding and links in/from the Thai partner.
This site is huge, and for any Thai publisher this possible tie-up can only be good for business. Sadly I can't tell you the name of the site because I am trying to negotiate the rights on behalf of my Thai language stock news and information website.
While some publishers are trying to charge in one case close to 2 million baht for one years' rights to translate five stories per day into Thai, others are happy to extend their brand awareness by allowing publishers here free access to their content and brand image.

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PROBLEMS FOR ECONOMIST SUBSCRIBERS

For the past few weeks Thailand-based subscribers to The Economist have been experiencing delays in getting their copies. Following the non-delivery of the controversial issue (I don't need to say more about that) at the start of December I understand the publisher opted to change its distribution methods. It appears this agreement was short-lived and copies are now being mailed to subscribers in Thailand directly from Singapore.
There are very few magazine distribution companies in Thailand that have the capacity and ability to handle foreign imported titles. Distri Thai, for example, is part of the same group as Asia Books and handles bookshop sales of imported magazines, yet despite advertising subscriptions within their shops it seems they're presently unable to handle subs deliveries themselves.
Most magazines within Thailand rely on Thailand Post for delivery. It's the most economical way to get the copies out, even if sometimes slow. It's pretty secure too; less than 1 per cent of the magazines my company sends to subscribers this way get lost.

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HOW TO GET QUALITY SUBSCRIPTIONS DATA

A reader emailed me late last week, making an interesting point about obtaining quality subscriber list data for cross marketing. She works for a global campaign organisation in Bangkok and wants to rent subscriber list data from publishers so she can target them for awareness and action concerning her organisation in Thailand.
From a publishers perspective this can be a nice source of revenue. We spend a lot of money recruiting our subscribers and renting or selling the names and addresses, where permission has been obtained, can be lucrative. I know from my own experiences that buying quality data is expensive. I was once quoted 2 million baht to rent 10,000 names of apparent high net worth individuals in Bangkok. That's rent only. I would not get to see the names; the selling company would label our direct mail and send it themselves. The only way we would have known it was working was when the phones started to ring.
Some publishers guard their data well while others aren't so good. We once had two shady characters arrive at our office offering to sell the entire subscriber data of a rival publication. We declined.
If a company wants to be associated with a particular campaign they may will consider allowing the organisation to use its lists, just to be seen to be supporting the effort. It really depends on the publisher and the campaign or organisation.

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BOBBLE HATS AND SCARVES

It was cold in Bangkok last night. The temperature dropped to 13 degrees Celsius on my balcony which, for the city at least, is chilly. Time for many Bangkokians to bring out the 'winter' clothes.
The BBC is forecasting a pleasant high today of 26 degrees with sun predicted all week. It seems ages since we had any rain.

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CASHING IN ON FREE COPIES

Bangkok's world famous Chatuchak Weekend Market is a source of bargains, including cut price books and magazines. You can buy current editions of both Thai and imported magazines at a fraction of their cover price, although the source of such magazines isn't always clear.
This example of the current edition of Reader's Digest Thailand gives you no doubt where is comes from; it's a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher to Thai Airways. Others available, such as Time, are 'subscription only copies and not for resale'. Quite where they come from I don't know?
Someone is making money in this process and it sure isn't the publisher. And if these issues find their way back into the distribution system there's a chance they could lose money too.

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A FUNNY PIC FOR FRIDAY

Here's a little something for Friday. If I told you that when I first saw this sign it made me giggle then you'll get an idea of my childish sense of humour.
I took this picture from the back of a taxi as part of my ever-growing Bangkok Taxi photoblog. It's fast-approaching 100 images and I try to update it at least two or three times a week now.
Have a fab Friday.

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NEW MAGAZINE FOR BANGKOK EXPAT WOMEN

Acclimate is another new English magazine to hit the shelves in Thailand. What makes this quarterly publication different is its target - the expat women of Bangkok.
I saw this magazine for the first time last weekend although December was the second edition that has been produced. Reading the impressive feedback page it seems the publishers have already established a dedicated and enthusiastic following.
I feel this magazine will be successful. I say that because this sector is one that's not already covered directly by any other magazine.
The editor Tracey Starr admits in her column she's had an overwhelming response from the first edition. She also says they've had requests for subscriptions but aren't ready to handle them. I just worry a little that the business behind the magazine isn't quite what it should be. No publisher can afford to turn down revenue right now.
Additionally the magazine doesn't appear to have the obligatory ISSN number and bar code from the Royal Thai Police and National Library. Despite long promised changes to the Publishing Act it's still a requirement for magazines here to seek approval prior to publishing.
Good luck to Acclimate; I really hope it bucks the recent trend of English magazines that make fleeting appearances before heading to the great newsagent in the sky.

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ONLY AUDITED MAG RESIGNS FROM PROCESS

Logistics Manager, the only magazine in Thailand with a globally recognized independent circulation audit, has applied to resign from the process.
Information from the BPA website shows the magazine, which has what's called a controlled free distribution to those in the logistics industry, shows the last audit happening in June last year when 5,289 copies of the magazine were being distributed. A 'resignation pending' note is now attached to the information about this magazine.
This news means Thailand will not have a single magazine with either a BPA or ABC circulation audit. One magazine produced in the Kingdom - Instore Magazine - does have an audit but its distribution is entirely in the United States.
I've blogged often about the benefits of auditing and how I planned for my magazine to undergo circulation auditing. The truth is that it's hard, not least because of the lack of a suitable and auditable paper trail throughout the whole printing, distribution and sales process. An auditor needs to be able to track the entire process on paper and in many cases that's almost impossible.
Some magazines and newspapers have opted for a certified print run statement which is produced by an accountant and confirms the number of copies printed. I personally think, from an advertisers perspective, those statements are worthless.

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ELEPHANTS ON THE STREETS

You go for months without seeing any, and then you see four in one day.
Elephants on the streets of Bangkok are reasonably common in the tourist areas, especially on Sukhumvit. I'm guessing the fact I saw four different ones yesterday during the course of a couple of hours yesterday afternoon is a sign of the times and the fact that money (generally tourists pay to give nuts to the elephants) is getting increasingly hard to get for those in tourist-related businesses.
I still do a double take when I see them.

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A NETBOOK FOR 5,000 BAHT ?

Quite possibly. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that British computer firm Elonex will start selling its Netbook product for £99 in Next and Marks and Spencer from next month. At current exchange rates (and the way the British pound is heading) that equates to a touch over 5,000 baht.
Okay, so this computer will only have 2GB memory (my mobile phone has four times that) but it will, according to the report, ".. be able to tap into your home or work computer remotely, accessing all of its documents and storage. By controlling your home or work PC remotely over the Internet, the netbook should be able to compete with larger, more powerful laptops."
The Eee PC, which is sold in Thailand and produced by Asus, is more than twice that price but does have more memory. For £99 the Elonex offering seems like it will be a must-have.

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GLOBAL COVERAGE OF WEBSITE CRACKDOWN

I must admit to being quite surprised at the prominence given in the international media to yesterday's announcement by the Thai government of a crackdown on anti-royal websites. The story was the third or fourth lead on BBC World News yesterday evening and most of the global news organisations have picked up on it.
Some of the coverage is coming close to being deemed ripe for censoring. I say that having noted some of the relatively innocuous sites that have already been blocked.
The BBC website, for example, says: "But in their attempts to prevent such material being seen in Thailand, overzealous officials have been blocking relatively innocent sites that, for example, merely refer to the strict lese majeste statutes that outlaws criticism of the monarchy. And no amount of Internet censorship can prevent the growing, though still very discreet, discussions among ordinary Thais over the monarchy - some of which can be surprisingly frank."
The Bangkok Post has an editorial online which is also quite bold. It says: "Any semi-skilled young student or office worker these days is aware of half a dozen ways to get around bans on websites." Discussions of less majeste issues in the Thai mainstream media are rare, let alone the fact it's easy to circumvent them.
Probably the best background piece I've seen appears on the Time website. Check it out here.

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MAGAZINES: EASY COME, EASY GO

A reader emailed me yesterday following my post about English media in Thailand. She said: "In Phuket alone there are seemingly dozens of new mags coming out every year, few of which last more than a year or two."
The same can be said for Bangkok. I can think of three magazines that have come and gone during the last two years. Given that fact you can understand why many advertising agencies in Thailand have a policy that prohibits advertising with any new publications for at least the first 12 months.
Magazines fail because of lack of advertising revenue, and each one that fails makes it harder for those that follow. Advertisers want to be associated with a successful magazine brand and you can understand why they would be reluctant to commit to 'The Latest Bangkok' magazine without knowing how long it will be around.
I cannot see things getting any easier during 2009. There are a lot of magazines chasing declining advertising revenue. Only the strong and established magazines will survive, and even they will need to innovate and focus to maintain their existing business.

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THE RESURGANCE OF ENGLISH PRINT MEDIA

How many English newspapers and magazines are there in Thailand?
If you include the various newspaper supplements, regional weeklies, free ad magazines and established titles there's probably close to 40. There's no central database of publications in Thailand so there's no way to know for sure.
If you Google 'English Media in Thailand' you get a whole host of, quite frankly, useless and outdated information. Metro, Farang and Thai Day disappeared more than two years ago yet they feature prominently on most search results.
I'm working on a useful and current database of English media in Thailand which should be finished later this week. I'll post details here as soon as it's done.

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ECONOMIST TAKES COPYRIGHT ACTION

EXCLUSIVE by The Bangkok Bugle

Industry sources have confirmed The Economist will shortly be sending 'cease and desist' letters to Thai language websites and publications that have reproduced direct translations of the recent highly controversial stories that lead to the publication not appearing in Thailand and website versions being censored.
The Economist places great value on its content, and Thai language syndication rights are, I understand, currently the subject of negotiations with at least one publishing company.
It remains to be seen whether the company will take further action if the 'offending' material is not removed.

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CONTACT ME

Feel free to contact me about anything relating to The Bangkok Bugle or the media industry in Thailand. You can email me at bkkandy AT myway.com.

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MORE ABOUT ME AND THIS SITE

So you want to know more about me? Why?

Seriously .. my name is Andrew and I'm the 41-year-old author of The Bangkok Bugle. I've been living in Bangkok since June 2006, prior to which I spend most of my time in southern England.

For the past 20 years I've been working in the media and publishing industry. I've worked for magazines and newspapers in a variety of roles on the editorial, advertising and business sides of publishing. My role right now as Publishing Director for a publishing company with offices in Bangkok, Phuket and Singapore, looking after the marketing-leading English language magazine called Property Report South East Asia, as well as Business Report Thailand, Helm Superyacht Asia Pacific and Bloomberg Businessweek Thailand.

In my professional media career before coming to Thailand I have ... :

• ... been production editor for a computer security magazine with a global circulation of more than 100,000 copies per month.
• ... been part of the team that won the Newspaper Society's Weekly Newspaper of the Year in 2004.
• ... had my photographic work featured in many U.K. national newspapers and magazines including The Sun and The Independent.
  
• ... held an exhibition of my work as a press photographer.
• ... reported for newspapers and radio on European Cup basketball matches in Sweden, Italy and Croatia.
• ... been part of the team at Property Report South East Asia which was named 'Property Magazine of the Year' by Singapore-based Marketing magazine.

The Bangkok Bugle was born in May 2006 and was originally intended as a way to keep my family and friends in the U.K. updated about my new life in Thailand. It gradually morphed into what it is today - a blog with its main focus on the media and publishing industry in Thailand. Occasionally I'll tell you what I had for dinner but I will try to keep those posts to a minimum.

During the last five years this blog has opened doors and offered opportunities that I never expected. Some highlights include:

• Being asked to comment on media issues in Thailand by the Al Jazeera television network.
• Appearing on a business television program in Switzerland.
• Having one of my stories highlighted by the popular Geneva Lunch website. (What is it about Switzerland?)
  
• Getting a mention in the Edinburgh Evening News.
• Getting a four-month contract for my company to work with a Dubai-based publisher.
• Being offered some freelance work by a leading U.S. travel magazine.
• Being called a "media guru" by several noted websites.
• Having the change to contribute to several books.
• Met and engaged with numerous wonderful people around the world.

In January 2010 I was also asked to submit summary content on a regular basis to the Asian Correspondent network.

I could go on but I hate to blow my own trumpet. Trumpet .. Bugle .. get it? Sorry.

For me this blog is fun. If it ever stopped being fun I would stop publishing. What drives me on is the comments and emails that I get on a daily basis. Thank you for reading this, and for your interest in The Bangkok Bugle.

If you have any more questions you can email bkkandy AT myway.com.

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