Every day we personally trawl around a dozen websites and post details of vacancies deemed suitable for native English media professionals in Thailand. If you have a vacancy and want it filled, email your details to bkkandy AT myway.com.
Latest vacancies:
pricewaterhousecoopers is looking for an English editor for its Bangkok office.
DDProperty.com urgently needs a writer/editor with fluent written and spoken Thai and English skills.
AA Talent is seeking a native English Corporate Writer/Editor for one of its clients - an international PR and sponsorship agency.
Are you a journalist or writer looking for work in Thailand and South East Asia? Why not post your details and let publishers come to you? See HERE for more details.
Newsweek seems to think that editions of its magazine which didn't sell first time around will persuade buyers to part with cash some five months on.
In Thailand this week you can buy the current double-issue edition of the magazine for 180 baht, but alongside this issue on the shelves is a wrapped special offer where you get that same current edition with one dated January 10-17 for the 'bargain' price of 225 baht.
Unlike some publications Newsweek's content is often time sensitive, so I cannot understand why anyone would want to effectively pay and extra 45 baht for a copy of one five-month-old news magazine?
I saw this innovative example of print advertising in the April edition of Thai language magazine Anywhere.
It's quite an intricate advertisement; there's an overlapping cup stuck on top of the printed version creating a pocket in which the Twinings tea bag has been placed. This would not have been cheap to produce, and the teabags would likely have been individually inserted.
Advertisements like this stand out in Thailand, largely because there are so few of them when compared to magazines elsewhere in the region and further afield.
Anywhere magazine (the April edition of which was still on sale on May 29th) is published by Magic Productions. This edition contains 164 pages and sells for 95 baht. The ed/ad ratio is at least 80/20 in this edition.
I don't like to indulge in Nation bashing however some "facts" which appeared in one of their stories earlier this week about Bangkok's property sector are wildly inaccurate.
The story claims Bangkok and its suburbs has supply of some 459,240 units which will take three years to be absorbed without any further property coming to market. If that were true Bangkok would be in some serious property bubble trouble.
I asked one of my colleagues to check with the person who was quoted as providing this information, and the truth is that the figure of 459,240 is the value in millions of Thai baht of all low-rise housing projects being planned in Bangkok and its surrounds - both sold and unsold.
The story also noted that 49 projects with 20,116 units worth more than 50 billion baht have been launched in Greater Bangkok during the first four months of this year. The truth is that 49 is the number of low-rise housing projects launched in Bangkok and perimeter provinces by listed companies during first four months of this year. The figure of 20,116 is the number of units in low-rise housing projects launched in Bangkok and perimeter provinces by both listed and non-listed developers combined. The total number of projects launched is 107 and not 49 as quoted.
What's equally interesting is how this story has been copied word-for-word by several cut-and-paste property news websites who have chosen to believe that everything published elsewhere is true and not worth questioning.
One of the most common questions I'm asked by readers of this blog is about the kind of rates that freelance journalists pitching to Thailand-based publications can expect to earn.
The answer really depends on the content you're able to provide. If you're able to write with authority and knowledge on a specific topic and have no competition, and can convince a publication to commission you, then you stand a chance of being able to earn around 5 baht per word. For a 1,000-word article that equates to around US$160.
That's not much on a global scale but you have to consider that publishers are recruiting degree-holding Thai journalists with reasonable English language skills for as little as US$400 per month.
In the five years I've been in Thailand I've yet to see any freelance assignments paying more than 7 baht per word - and more recently I've seen several that are paying just 1 baht and 2 baht per word. One business publication is currently asking for free submissions in return for a photo and credit via Craigslist.
From a publishers perspective it's true that you get what you pay for.
Which should cost more, a print edition of your favourite magazine or its tablet equivalent? In Thailand, more often than not, the answer is the latter.
Late last year many Thai publishers rushed to launch iPad editions of their print editions. That number has slowly increased this year although the majority of publishers in Thailand have yet to go down the tablet route. But some of those who have launched iPad editions are asking readers to pay more than for the print version.
Using the Thai language version of Her World magazine as just one example of what is probably a flawed business model, the print edition costs 80 baht. To purchase the iPad edition costs US$2.00 (90 baht) or £1.79 (88 baht).
Most readers expect digital editions to cost less, not more, and with many developers now touting free print-to-tablet adaptation services to Thai publishers there's simply no excuse for this pricing anomaly.
Earlier this week The Bangkok Post noted there are some 45,000 Internet-enabled iPads in Thailand currently. The market inside the kingdom is small enough anyway without creating pricing issues on top.
Print will soon be a thing of the past on Singapore Airlines as the airline continues to roll-out a new in-flight entertainment system that offers publishers the chance to have their magazine available as digital editions.
Already some 20 global magazines are available across around 60 per cent of the SQ fleet, and by the end of August the airline will not be carrying any print on its flights - and saving considerable weight, fuel and money in the process.
Last week in Singapore I was invited behind the scenes to see the testing and to enjoy a demonstration of the 'page flipping' interactive system. For publishers it's not cheap to be part of the service, but with a captive audience, the ability for readers to interact with the publisher and - perhaps most importantly - the ability to have each view recorded and audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation, it's something that may prove irresistible to many publishers. Read more...
Resorts World Sentosa has been fined S$530,000 by Singapore's casino regulator for reimbursing the entrance fee to reporters covering an event.
A S$100 entrance fee is payable by all Singapore citizens and permanent residents, a levy which was repaid to journalists who were invited to cover an event last year. The fine includes three other transgressions of the city state's Casino Control Act.
I wonder how many reporters would have attended the event knowing they would have to pay S$100 - which is about 2,400 baht? 'Entrance to Casino' would certainly raise some questions on most expenses claims. Read more...
Nation Multimedia Group recorded an 18.7 million baht profit during the first quarter of 2011, a year-on-year rise of 36 per cent.
The company noted an overall 14 per cent increase in advertising revenues compared to the same period last year. Print advertising was up 3 per cent. The company also recorded a 4 per cent decline in revenues from electronic media, while revenues from newspaper sales fell 8 per cent.
The company publishes The Nation as well as a number of Thai language newspapers and magazines.
Business Plus Thailand is the latest publication to appear on the streets of Thailand.
As exclusively revealed by the Bangkok Bugle in March, the new bilingual free newspaper is, according to the masthead, "Thailand's only free bilingual business newspaper that focuses on only local news."
The May edition runs to 32 pages and also boasts a circulation of 120,000 copies on its masthead.
For a first edition it contains a decent amount of advertising although the Bangkok Bugle understands the publisher was recently offering barter opportunities for advertising space.
The English cover story is about a new Crown Plaza hotel opening in Bangkok, and much of the English content isn't unique. That said, it's free will likely rely on blanket distribution to provide value to its advertisers.
There's a high price to pay if you want your magazine in the eyes of potential buyers.
Premium positions, such as at the counter in a busy international airport, can cost publishers as much as $1,000 per month or more - and when you consider the retailer and distributor will take up to 50 per cent commission plus the premium placement fee, a publisher really does have to sell a lot more copies
Some retailers have a price list for various opportunities in their stores - ranging from around $200 for an end-of-aisle position upwards to the highly sought after counter placement. But even with that prominent position you still need to have an eye-catching cover and story to get the sale. That said, a good working relationship with retailers and distributors sometimes means you get good placements for no cost. With a good cover and story, they'll give you a good placement as it's in their interests to sell more copies too. Read more...
Post Publishing PCL, publishers of a variety of newspapers including The Bangkok Post, and Thai language licensed magazines including Elle and Cleo, reported a 16.49 million baht profit for the first three months of 2011, up some 54.7 per cent from the same period last year.
In a statement to The Stock Exchange of Thailand on Friday, the company noted a: ".. continued rebound in advertising spending, especially in property, automobile, financial and government sectors, which has contributed to the growth of advertising revenue for both print and other media."
For the year ending 2010 the company reported a profit 83.2 million baht.
I'm a regular critic of the chaos that can be witnessed on the shelves of bookshops and news stands in Thailand.
During the last week I've come to the realisation that some places in Singapore are no better, as is illustrated from the picture I took this afternoon of displays in one of the larger Singapore chains in one the their larger outlets.
There are actually more than 18 publications in this image - none of which will be selling any copies on the strength of their cover stories. I'd even suggest that most of these will go unsold - which does nothing for the retailer and nothing for the publisher.
The more I get involved in this side of the publishing business, the more I'm seeing the advantage in paying for premium placements; in may be the only way to set seen in some shops.
I've been following a story on the excellent Australian News Agency blog regarding the supply of Royal Wedding magazine. To summarise, some newsagents were unable to order additional copies whereas supermarkets were, in some cases, given an automatic 45 per cent increase.
Significant numbers of one Australian magazine - a special souvenir edition of Woman's Day - have appeared in Singapore. At one store I counted more than 40 on sale in two different positions alongside copies of other Royal Wedding magazines from around the world.
I cannot imagine there will be too many more sales of magazine likes this now we're close to two weeks after the big day - and especially with imported magazine being two or three times the cost of locally produced ones.
Perhaps the missing copies that newsagents in Australia so desperately wanted were diverted overseas? Read more...
In early March I revealed details of one magazine that has been on sale in one prominent Thailand bookshop for two years. Some two months nothing has changed and the copies are still for sale.
The prominent B2S newsagents at Central Festival in Phuket has been selling half a dozen copies of Apartment Living magazine since it went on sale in March 2009. No more copies have been sold in the two months since I last visited, however shop staff have moved the copies to a slightly different location on the shelves.
This is unacceptable, in my view. To the best of my knowledge this 'failed' magazine has not appeared for at least five months. What makes iy even worse is that during the last two months staff have been in contact with this magazine as they've moved its location. Surely that must look at what they're selling?
As a publisher it is extremely frustrating. We're fighting for space as it is, yet to be competing with a 'failed' magazine that cannot sell copies after 26 months is just ... crazy!
The media in Thailand is "not free" according to a ranking report published last week by the Freedom House organisation. This is a decline from the "partly free" description of recent years.
And while local media, such as the Bangkok Post, reported the 14 place year-on-year drop, the long term decline is far worse. The kingdom has dropped some 60 places during the last eight years. I've detailed Thailand's rankings in this report since 2004 below.
The trend of decline of media freedom in Thailand indicated by this particular study is very similar to the Press Freedom Index which is published in October every year by Reporters Without Borders. I detailed the trends in that report here.
Year - Ranking
2011 - 138th
2010 - 124th
2009 - 122nd
2008 - 119th
2007 - 126th
2006 - 107th
2005 - 95th
2004 - 88th
An editorial on the subject from The Nation said: "[Thailand] was once a beacon of free speech in the region", and suggested the media is now viewed as being an enemy of the state by some sectors.
Thailand is very much off the beaten track when it comes to the distribution of magazines.
When I left Suvarnabhumi airport earlier today the only overseas magazines to appear on the shelves with coverage of last Friday's Royal Wedding were Time and Newsweek.
Yet in Singapore there are at least a dozen different magazines already on sale just six days after the big day. Titles from the U.S., United Kingdom and Australia are being prominently displayed in the two newsagents I've visited so far.
I accept there are more native English language readers in Singapore, but I'm sure there would be decent demand for these titles in Thailand too, especially as I've heard several reports of newspaper sell-outs from last weekend.
There was no recognisable decrease in the number of new magazines being launched in Thailand during the first four months of 2011. What was noticeable, however, was the proportion of new titles appearing from the larger and more established publishers. Previously, the "new launches" sector of the market was almost exclusively dominated by smaller and one-off publishers.
Newspapers from throughout Asia picked up awards at last week's annual Publish Asia ceremony which took place in Bangkok.
In the 'Best in Print' award for publications with a circulation under 150,000 copies, the Gold Award was presented to Hindi Hindustan. For publications above 150,000 copies, Gold Awards were presented to Apple Daily (Hong Kong), Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan Times and The Times of India.
The South China Morning Post collected the Gold Award in the Best Newspaper Overall Design category, while SPH's Mgzine won the Gold Award for Best Overall Magazine Design.
There was success for Thailand in the Newspaper Front Page Design where Kom Chad Luek collected a Silver Award
The Gold Award for Best Newspaper Info graphics went to Al Shabiba from Muscat, while the magazine equivalent went to Singapore Press Holdings.
The Gold Award for Newspaper Breaking News Article went the way of The Financial Times, and the same newspaper also collected the award for Best Newspaper Feature Article, ahead of The Wall Street Journal and The Jakarta Globe.
There were more local winners with Nation Group photographer Watcharachai Klaipong collected the Gold Award for Best News Photography. Runner-up, and collecting the Silver Award, was Khun Phrakrit Juntawong of Post Publishing.
The awards, which took place in Bangkok this year having been postponed for the two previous year, attracted some 500 media professionals from around the world.
"I have been following your comments on the local press with great interest. Keep up the good work." Suthichai Yoon - Editor-in-Chief, The Nation.
"... I think The Bangkok Bugle is one of the best Thai-based blogs around. Short, sweet blog posts about Thailand and life in the media. It’s one of the only blogs I read on a regular basis." The Lost Boy - http://www.whatismatt.com/ " .. a very very helpful source when I was working in Europe for me to stay in step with the Thai media market." P.M. - Singapore.
"The Bangkok Bugle is an amazing blog – I really like it. During my presentation a mentioned your blog a couple of times…" A.K. - Stuttgart, Germany. "I've been following your blog for some time now, as I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the media in Thailand. So far I've found it to be very informative and diverse in its content - thanks!" N.H. - Canada.
"Can I just say how chuffed I am to find your blog, thanks." Rich - U.K.
"... a tightly-written and insightful blog about the media in Thailand." Lana, Phuket - www.serratededges.com
"Just wanted to say that I happened across your site and was thrilled to find it ... your blogs are very useful." M.K. - Hanoi, Vietnam.
"Wow, wow, wow. I am really inspired by your passion." P.C. - Singapore.
"I'm sure I speak for more than one Bangkok-based journalist when I say it's nice to have such resources handy." N.B. - Bangkok.
"Well done! I find the site comprehensive and informative, a whole lot better than I can find from reading the English dailies in Thailand." R.D. - Publisher, S.E. Asia. "Just a quick line to say well done, great site, fantastic resource, so useful." N.R. - Thailand.
"I stumbled onto your blog the other day - it's really good, nice to see someone doing something different!" W.E. - South Africa.
"I treasure the kind of information you pass." @ eloinadiaz on Twitter. "Your knowledge of how media markets and industry works here comes from persistent focus and hard work." @ jonfernquest on Twitter
Blog Archive
Ask Me Anything ..
.. about the media and publishing industry in Thailand, and I will do my best to assist you. You can email your question to bkkandy AT myway.com.
