Economic recovery to boost books

The Thai publishing market looks promising in 2025 because of the local economic rebound, according to the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat).
Theerapat Charoensuk, a member of Pubat’s executive committee, said the Thai book market this quarter has shown positive signs, partly attributed to the country’s economic recovery.
The recent book fair, Book Expo Thailand 2024 held on Oct 10-20, attracted 1.4 million attendees, a record high for the event.
The expo included events such as allowing readers to meet writers, which could be a reason why it was so popular, Mr Theerapat said.
Moreover, the publishers invited actors who performed in dramas that were adapted from books to meet their fans, from both boys’ love and girls’ love series, which had drawn more visitors to the book fair.
“As the Thai book market is gaining significant momentum this year, I believe that the publishers will likely publish more books next year,” said Mr Theerapat.
The country’s economy next year is expected to be better compared to 2024 because of the disbursement of the fiscal 2025 budget and the increase in foreign arrivals.
And as the economy grows, the Thai publishing industry also has bright business prospects.
Moreover, Mr Theerapat believes that if the government revives the nationwide economic recovery projects such as “Shop Dee Mee Kuen” (shop and pay back) and includes books as eligible items for the tax rebate, it will help boost the economy and reinvigorate the book industry.
Mr Theerapat said he has witnessed a new group of readers from the previous book fairs.
As YouTubers and podcasters have launched their own books, this has led to those influencers or hosts’ fans having interest in books and joining the book fair, with such a trend expected to continue into 2025.
“We have new customers who rarely read books before. When the hosts and influencers write books, their fans follow them and buy their books,” Mr Theerapat added.