Ailing publishing industry gets a whiff of hope as book lovers flock to expo on Oct 17

At a time when it is assumed that the pervasive influence of social media had taken a toll on people's reading habit, the crowds were a relief for publishers and retailers.

The organiser of the expo, the Publisher and Booksellers Association of Thailand, expects this event to generate around 300 million baht in revenue from book sales.

The association stressed that books are still important for people, especially for children's development.

Here's the atmosphere at the event, which runs until October 23.

Several book lovers had queued up at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok from as early as 6am, eagerly waiting for the doors of Book Expo Thailand to open at 10am.
As the doors opened, people rushed into the convention centre.

More than 100 booths have been set up to welcome book lovers, but the most popular ones are comics and novels that get constant attention from the youth.

The majority of visitors said they had come to buy comics and novels that are being sold as limited edition items, claiming that they would have to pay higher amounts for the resold books outside.

A fourth-year student of Chiang Mai University, Kunakorn Paratthajariyawong, says physical books are still important for the brain even though electronic versions are available.

"it is. Books can entertain us. Even though electronic books are now available, I still prefer reading printed ones." said Kunakorn Paratthajariyawong 

The president of Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand, Thipsuda Sinchawarnwat, says that readers' behaviour has changed after book prices went up.
She says about 1,200 bookstores in Thailand have closed down, and only 800 are still in operation.

"According to our survey, readers have a budget of around 500 to 1,000 baht for buying books." Said Thipsuda Sinchawarnwat  President of the Publisher and Booksellers Association of Thailand

"We expect book prices to increase due to the rising cost of paper, as a result readers are reducing their purchases."

"Books are still necessary, especially for children's development. Children who read literature or fairy tales will develop empathy as books will enable them to exercise their imagination by becoming characters in stories."

"Reading a book is different from watching a movie or a drama. The characters are not similar. Using imagination will make children more creative."

Thailand's book sales have seen a staggering drop by almost 11 billion baht over the past five years — from 23.9 billion baht in 2017 to 18 billion baht in 2018, 15.9 billion baht in 2019, 12.5 billion baht in 2020 and 13 billion baht in 2021.