Libraries and book industry part of Thailand's fiscal stimulus stage II
By Jon Fernquest
Conditions are ripe
for Thailand's publishing industry and reading public to expand by leaps and bounds
during the next year.Money has been allocated to purchase books for libraries and government agencies under the Thai Khem Khaeng program, the second stage of Thailand's fiscal stimulus program that focuses on investment.
Thailand's publishing industry has been expanding and growing more sophisticated for several years but is still far behind countries like Japan and Taiwan.
Advances in publishing technology now allow most creative aspects of book publishing to be outsourced.
This allows publishers to draw on a large diverse pool of creative talent in areas such as translation and graphic design for the physical design of the book.
Post Books, for example, has published a wide assortment of books during the last two years with only 4-5 staff members. The team won the Team of the Year award at the Bangkok Post this year.
In Thailand the number of bookstores jumped suddenly by 100% in 2007 when 7-11 convenience stores created mini-bookstores in many of their stores.
Today's article begins after the vocabulary:
fiscal
stimulus - temporary increases in government spending and
tax cuts to help an economy start growing again after an economic
downturn
conditions are ripe - the conditions make it likely to happen
reading public - all the people who read books in a country
expand by leaps and bounds - increase by large amounts
allocated - given
Thai Khem Khaeng - the name of Thailand's stage II fiscal stimulus program that focuses on investment
sophisticated - complex and higher quality ซับซ้อน
outsourced - work inside a company given to an outside company to do
draw on - use
diverse - with variety
pool - group
talent - people with special skills
wide assortment - many different kinds
convenience stores - small local stores like 7-11 open at all hours, easy to travel to
mini - small
conditions are ripe - the conditions make it likely to happen
reading public - all the people who read books in a country
expand by leaps and bounds - increase by large amounts
allocated - given
Thai Khem Khaeng - the name of Thailand's stage II fiscal stimulus program that focuses on investment
sophisticated - complex and higher quality ซับซ้อน
outsourced - work inside a company given to an outside company to do
draw on - use
diverse - with variety
pool - group
talent - people with special skills
wide assortment - many different kinds
convenience stores - small local stores like 7-11 open at all hours, easy to travel to
mini - small
Economics
PUBLISHING
Reading campaign helps book industry
22/01/2010Writer: Chadamas Chinmaneevong
The Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat) projects greater government support of reading will help expand sales in the local book business by 4% to 19.9 billion baht this year
Risuan Aramcharoen, the Pubat president, said the government had seriously encouraged Thais to read more (from five books per year to 10 books in 2011) and this has been on the national agenda since August. It also plans to spend a huge sum of money through the Thai Khem Khaeng scheme to buy books for public libraries, government agencies and state enterprises.
campaign
- a series of activities over time to achieve a goal การรณรงค์
reading campaign - a series of activities to encourage and help get more people reading
publisher - a company in the business of producing books (See Wikipedia) สำนักพิมพ์
Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat) - the name of the organisation that represents publishers and bookshops in Thailand
expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
encouraged - help people have more confidence or hope about something มีกำลังใจ
national - a citizen of a particular country ประชาชน
agenda - a list of goals to be achieved กำหนดการ
national - a list of goals to be achieved by a country
sum - an amount of something, especially money จำนวนเงิน
scheme - a plan that is developed by a government or large organisation in order to provide a particular service for people แผนการ โครงการ
state enterprises - companies owned by the government
reading campaign - a series of activities to encourage and help get more people reading
publisher - a company in the business of producing books (See Wikipedia) สำนักพิมพ์
Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat) - the name of the organisation that represents publishers and bookshops in Thailand
expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
local - in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
encouraged - help people have more confidence or hope about something มีกำลังใจ
national - a citizen of a particular country ประชาชน
agenda - a list of goals to be achieved กำหนดการ
national - a list of goals to be achieved by a country
sum - an amount of something, especially money จำนวนเงิน
scheme - a plan that is developed by a government or large organisation in order to provide a particular service for people แผนการ โครงการ
state enterprises - companies owned by the government
Although the global economy is expected to improve this year, the book market is still uncertain because local political uncertainty may affect government policy
Thailand has great potential to grow because the amount of reading is so tiny compared to other countries such as Japan and Taiwan. Taiwan publishes 60,000 new titles per year while Thailand publishes around 13,000," said Ms Risuan
In 2009, children's fiction and cartoons showed promise while working people went for books about applied dharma principles and self-development.
global
- throughout the world ทั่วโลก
improve - to get better ดีขึ้น
policy - a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย
potential - possible ความเป็นไปได้
improve - to get better ดีขึ้น
policy - a set of plans or action agreed on by a government, political party, business, or other group นโยบาย
potential - possible ความเป็นไปได้
In 2008, the number of new titles was 13,607, up slightly from 13,352 the year before. Although launching new titles improves the business, publishers should focus on content as well because more than 70% of readers made a buying decision based on content.
launching new titles -
start sales of new books the publisher has produced
content - the subject, ideas, or story that a piece of writing or a radio or television programme deals with เนื้อหา,สาระ
content - the subject, ideas, or story that a piece of writing or a radio or television programme deals with เนื้อหา,สาระ
Pubat urged the government to provide a tax break for publishing houses that donate books to the Education Ministry. It also believes a tax reduction for spending on books by individuals and juristic entities would promote reading
urged
- advised someone very strongly about what action should be taken วิงวอน
provide - to give someone something that they want or need
donate - to give something such as money or goods to an organisation, especially to a charity, school, political party, etc. บริจาค
individuals - persons บุคคล
promote - to move someone to a job at a higher level เลื่อนตำแหน่ง
provide - to give someone something that they want or need
donate - to give something such as money or goods to an organisation, especially to a charity, school, political party, etc. บริจาค
individuals - persons บุคคล
promote - to move someone to a job at a higher level เลื่อนตำแหน่ง
The number of registered publishers in 2008 rose 21% from the previous year, which reflected rising business opportunities and ease of market entry
The number of bookstores in 2007 and 2008 grew by 100.31% and 29.79%, respectively, from previous years. Book Smile, which occupies small spaces in 7-Eleven convenience stores, in 2007 contributed to the sharp rise
Pubat also found medium-sized to large publishing houses had higher growth in sales revenues in 2008, said Ms Risuan
registered - have
name officially recorded with government
ease - to make it easier to do something ทำให้ง่าย
respectively - in the order in which they were mentioned ตามลำดับ
convenience - the quality of being suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty ความสะดวกสบาย
sharp - strong ที่รุนแรง
revenues - money coming into a business, money that a business makes before expenses are paid
ease - to make it easier to do something ทำให้ง่าย
respectively - in the order in which they were mentioned ตามลำดับ
convenience - the quality of being suitable for your purposes and needs and causing the least difficulty ความสะดวกสบาย
sharp - strong ที่รุนแรง
revenues - money coming into a business, money that a business makes before expenses are paid
(Source: Reading campaign helps book industry, 22/01/2010, Chadamas Chinmaneevong, link)
