WHY YOUR MAGAZINE MAY COST MORE

Pulp prices have been rising considerably this year, as much as 30 per cent since the start of the year in some cases. Sooner or later this will mean a rise in the price of your newspaper or magazine - or perhaps a small version of your favourite title.
Pulp prices rose following the Chile earthquake and a dock strike in Finland. Those countries combined are responsible for more than 10 per cent of the raw materials that go into newspaper and magazines. And this all happened at a time when demand for paper from China has exploded - meaning greater competition for what remains.
I'm told by a contact in the printing sector that one high-profile Thai paper supply company has not been able to deliver paper to printers for four months, and while I think we're a little away from a crisis it's certainly a worrying situation for many publishers, who are right now being faced with up to 30 per cent increases in basic production costs or, worse still, having no paper on which to print their titles.

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CONFIRMED: NO ECONOMIST THIS WEEK

EXCLUSIVE: By The Bangkok Bugle

UPDATE: I've been contacted by several subscribers who have reported their copies of The Economist have arrived as usual this week, however others I have spoken to have told me their copies have still not arrived (as of Wednesday evening).
In the past there was one occasion where subscriber copies were unaffected by the decision by the publisher to withhold copies from the newstrade.
If you're a subscriber in Thailand who has yet to get your copy please let me know by leaving a comment.

No copies of The Economist have appeared in Thailand this week.
For the second time this year the publisher has withheld copies of the magazine from distribution in Thailand. On this occasion it is likely due to references regarding the Thai monarchy in a story about last week's clashes in the Thai capital headlined 'The Battle for Bangkok'. That possible source of problematic content remains accessible online. The story was highlighted on the front page although it was not the cover story.
An industry source has confirmed to me that copies destined for Bangkok were diverted elsewhere in the region this week, and a member of staff at Asia Books also told me that they've not received any copies of the magazine this week. Several subscribers I've spoken to have also told me their copies have failed to arrive this week.
One issue earlier this year, on March 19, did not make it to the shelves and the six occasions during 2009 where deliveries of print editions of The Economist were disrupted in Thailand were October 16, September 18, July 4, April 18, January 31 and January 24. The issue of December 5, 2008 also experienced delivery problems in Thailand.

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LAST WEEK A WAR ZONE, NOW MY WAY HOME

Less than seven days ago Rama 4 road in Bangkok was literally a war zone. Troops from the Royal Thai Army battled red shirt anti-government protesters, culminating with the burning of a number of buildings. Images from clashes on this road appeared around the world.
Now Bangkok is largely back to normal, except for the obvious scars, and Rama 4 has returned to being an important part of my own daily commute. It's only the burned out shells of around half a dozen buildings along this road that provide any indication of what happened just a few days ago.

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THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT, THE FUTURE IS PRINT

Print media appears to be thriving in Thailand if the most recent statements of publicly listed companies in the sector are anything to go by.
Both Nation Multimedia (THB 13.7 million) and Post Publishing (THB 10.6 million) reported first quarter profits to The Stock Exchange of Thailand within the past couple of weeks, in stark contrast to the respective THB 58.8 million and THB 18.8 million losses reported for the same period last year. Both companies noted double-digit percentage rises in advertising income - a clear sign that print is gaining popularity at least with all-important advertisers.
Elsewhere Siam Sport Syndicate, a publisher of Thai language sports newspapers and a host of local language licensed magazines, recorded a THB 24.2 million profit against a THB 8.5 million in 2009. Another Thai language publisher, Matichon, also reported a THB 32.08 million profit against a THB 6.7 million profit for the same period last year. Both companies also noted increased advertising revenues during the first three months of the year.
New magazines have continued to appear on the shelves, although not at the rates seen in the latter half of last year. From my own experiences, and from talking to people within the industry, there does appear to be renewed optimism - although I've been saying for a long time that print will continue to flouish in Thailand for a long time yet.

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ASIA GETS ITS OWN LONELY PLANET MAG

Singapore-based Regent Media has partnered with BBC Magazines to launch Lonely Planet Magazine, a pan-Asian English edition of the monthly travel title.
The first edition, published this month, has a cover price of S$7.50 (€4.35) and the initial print run is 80,000.
The Asian edition of Lonely Planet Magazine is reported to be on sale in selected territories throughout Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao and Shanghai. It has not appeared in Thailand at present.
Regent Media is no stranger to BBC magazines. Last year it began publishing a similar English language Asian regional edition of BBC Knowledge Magazine. That title has been appearing in Thailand since its debut nine months ago.

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FOREIGN MEDIA COVERAGE UNDER FIRE

Some international media and their reporters covering the Bangkok crisis have been accused of biased coverage on the events in the Thai capital this week.
Under particular scrutiny have been the BBC and CNN, both of whom have had their coverage labeled as favouring the red shirt anti-government protesters. A Facebook group calling for "more informed reporting from Dan Rivers and CNN" has amassed more than 6,500 fans. Rivers is the network's Bangkok-based correspondent.
A letter published in today's Bangkok Post is equally critical of the coverage from the BBC. The author says: "I personally saw a journalist from the BBC asking to interview people who were leaving the Ruam Rudee area; she was only interested in interviewing the people who were 'fleeing' and carrying their belongings. No interest in the people going back and forth normally. Why was she so interested in stage-managing the opinions the BBC presents?"
As a journalist myself I know that in situations like this you can only report what you see, and when opinions have been so divided you will never be able to please everyone.
From what I have seen myself I would not say the reporting has been terribly biased, however I can say for sure that a lot of it was sensationalist. Until earlier in the week I was managing to carry on my life in Bangkok without too many problems. My magazine went to print on Tuesday night and, until then, it was business as usual.
I wrote previously that much of the international media was portraying the whole of Bangkok as a battleground. That simply wasn't the case. And now that things are quickly returning to a fair degree of normality Bangkok will slip from the limelight with the damage, in so many ways, having been done.

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POST RECORDS 10.6MB 1Q PROFIT

Post Publishing Public Company Limited reported a first quarter profit of THB 10.6 million earlier this month, compared to a THB 18.8 million loss during the same period last year.
In a statement to The Stock Exchange of Thailand the company attributed its improved performance to usage of lower-priced newsprint and a reduction of print runs as a result of the drop in tourist arrivals.
The company publishes The Bangkok Post, its sister Thai language daily Post Today as well as a number of licensed magazines.

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PICTURES SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS

Words seem almost insignificant when these pictures from Thursday's newspaper front pages tell the story of what happened in Bangkok on Wednesday, May 19th.
From Austria to Australia, and from England to New England, graphic and iconic images from the streets of Thailand's capital city are dominating coverage around the world.
In my opinion The Times from Johannesburg in South Africa and Toronto's The Globe and Mail deserve a special mention for their outstanding use of images from Bangkok.
There are close to 50 front pages here, representing just a fraction of the coverage that Bangkok is receiving around the world today.
(To look more closely at the front page montage please click on the image and zoom in).

ADD: If you want a PDF version (34MB) of more than 70 front page images please email bkkandy AT myway.com with PDF in the subject line. (As at 23/5 I've had more than 50 requests for copies.)

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BANGKOK BURNING

I'm working from home today for safety reasons, and the image here was taken from my condo in Tha Phra earlier this morning. Looking towards downtown Bangkok, which is about six miles away, I could see a dense plume of smoke rising from the centre of the city. There was also a faint smell of burning rubber in the air.
The escalation in tensions over the past couple of days has coincided with what has probably been the busiest five days in the four years I've been in Thailand. I would with about 12 colleagues and on Monday and Tuesday I asked just the essential staff to come in. Today, and probably for the rest of this week, the office will be closed and we'll be working from home.

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SATURDAY'S GLOBAL HEADLINES

Friday's violent clashes made for some dramatic images, and those images made it the front page of newspapers right around the world.
This montage of newspaper front pages from yesterday (Saturday) is a mere fraction of the coverage the ongoing clashes in Bangkok is receiving. And of course that coverage is not limited to print; as of 6am this morning Thailand remains the top story on both BBC World and CNN despite what appears to have been a relatively quiet night.
For the second day running The New York Times has featured an image from Bangkok prominently on its front page. For the first time during the current wave of unrest they've been joined by the Los Angeles Times.
If anyone is still unsure about what's happening in Bangkok I think these headline and images will leave them in no doubts as to the answer.

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BANGKOK BURNING

I captured these two images from the back of my taxi.
The image on the left was taken on Friday evening around 6pm and shows smoke drifting past the iconic Baiyoke Sky Tower in the heart of Bangkok. The one of the right was taken at exactly 6pm on Saturday evening from the expressway at the Klong Toei end of Rama IV. It was surreal to see that and be listening to the National Anthem on the radio at the same time.

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IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS

Pictures emanating from Bangkok over the past couple of days have been a newspaper picture editor's dream. Some have been very graphic, especially the ones involving the shooting of Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol. Without wishing to cause offence, the industry saying "if it bleeds, it leads" has never been more apt.
Coverage appeared on front pages around the world. including The New York Times, and both the global and Asia editions The Wall Street Journal. Newspapers in the Czech Republic, Italy and Kuwait also opted to feature images from the Thai capital on their front pages on Friday.
I am sure pictures from Saturday's editions will be equally graphic and equally bad for Thailand's global image.

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FIRST QUARTER PROFIT AT NATION GROUP

Nation Multimedia Group Public Company Limited recorded a first quarter net profit of THB 13.7 million baht, compared to a net loss in the same period last year of THB 58.89 million.
In a statement to The Stock Exchange of Thailand the company reported an overall 15 per cent rise in advertising revenues, with print rising by 18 per cent, broadcast by 13 per cent and new media by 3 per cent.
Circulation revenues dropped 5 per cent, despite a 5 per cent rise in newspaper circulation, according to the statement. Revenues from pocket books and comic books dropped 37 per cent.
The company noted a 12 per cent decrease in its cost of sales and operating expenses compared to the same period in 2009, attributing this to a 27 per cent drop in paper and production supply costs.

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AN APOLOGY

You'll have noticed that things have been a little quiet on here of late. That's because I'm working on some exciting changes to the magazine of which I'm Managing Editor. I'll update you more about that new week once the June edition has gone to print.

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TIME FOR A TRAVEL ADVICE DOWNGRADE?

On Wednesday, April 28, the United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued advice relating to Thailand. It said: "We currently advise against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand." That advice still remains valid today, some seven days later.
Government's are quick to issue instructions to their subjects, whether on holiday or resident, yet they're remarkably slow to amend or downgrade the seriousness of the situation.
The "all but essential" travel advice has serious insurance implications, not to mention the fact that many people will be dissuaded from travelling to Thailand when apparent safer options exist.
I know there are more important things happening in the United Kingdom this week. but come on. Get real and downgrade the advice. Bangkok is no more dangerous than it was three weeks ago when the advice was far less severe.

UPDATE: Some six hours after writing this story the FCO amended its advice to read: "The FCO has today lifted its warning against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand. This decision reflects a reduction in the level of political violence across the country in the last few days. The situation in Bangkok remains tense, and the FCO continues to advise against all but essential travel to the city. Bangkok airport is open and operating as normal. Travellers should continue to exercise caution throughout Thailand and avoid demonstrations. British nationals in Thailand, or planning to travel there, should also closely monitor FCO travel advice. The situation is unpredictable and could change rapidly."

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MORE NEW MAGAZINES HIT THE SHELVES

Despite the political situation in Thailand magazine launches have continued - and these are the latest two titles to appear as licensed local language editions of overseas titles.
Guitarist made its debut in April, a local language edition of the specialist music title from Future Publishing in the United Kingdom. The Thai edition is publishing by Diplomat Publishing.
Making its appearance this month is Option Thailand - a Thai language edition of the 29-year-old Japanese car modification magazine. As well as being the very first licensed title of the Japanese edition, the Thai language edition boasts a whopping 196 pages for its 80 baht. Serial licensed magazine publishers Inspire Entertainment are responsible for this one.

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BANGKOK'S LOSS IS VIETNAM'S GAIN

Organisers of the Asian Publishing Convention 2010, due to be held in Bangkok in July but which was postponed last month as a result of Bangkok's ongoing political clashes, have announced Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam as the new venue for the important industry event.
The original dates of July 8/9 are expected to remain the same.

Disclosure: I am an invited speaker at this event.

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