Books in English language.

[Admin]

iPAD vs iPOD

[isanbirder]

Clearly, reading a book on the little one (iPad) would be a resort of desperation!

[Admin]

Clearly, reading a book on the little one (iPad) would be a resort of desperation!

I see you are still confused!!!!!

The big one is iPAD!
The small one is iPOD!

Apple store Thailand: http://store.apple.com/th

[isanbirder]

Thanks, Admin!

[bankadon]

Hi, just to let you know that we have about 100 books in English. You can exchange here for free. Also a few Skandinavian books available.
This is in Time Out Fishing Park.
Check out where it is on our web site: www.bankadon.info (with coordinates but some nav-systems want you to take a very small (bumpy) shortcut when you just pass the big lake in ban Paisan. Ignore it and take the next left just when you enter Ban Lalompanoo)
Cheers
Ludo

[JanAndersLarsson]

Last Saturday I used the Internet to order some books from "Gecko Books" in Chiang Mai. Payment via Paypal and delivery by Royal Thai Mail. I had the books today one week after order. The delivery was OK and the books are in good shape. I am certain that I will use "Gecko Books" again when I find some titles I'd like to have.
Another used books shop is the DasaBooksCafe in Bangkok with a lot of interesting titles. Like "Gecko Books" they also have a database in which you can browse for available titles. I have not used them yet but if I find something I like I will try.
Of course buying books this way it is not the same as dropping in to your favorite book store and first browsing the backs of the books and then maybe the contents of a few before you buy ! But you can't have it all here i Isaan.

[jamesthailand]

thank you for the great report, I need to read good books from time to time and will definitely try to order from the place you did. 

[redrover]

Outside of the online offerings, BKK is a wealth of new and used bookstores - as is CM.

Let google do a deep search.

http://www.dasabookcafe.com/

http://www.geckobooks.net/

Suriwong Book Centre -CM

http://whitelotusbooks.com/index.php

http://www.orchidbooks.com/

http://www.riverbooksbk.com/

http://www.silkwormbooks.com/

http://www.backstreetbooksiam.com/ .....

[Admin]

Top Thai bookstore: e-books impact soon
Bangkok Post: 17 Feb 2011

PUBLISHING
Se-Ed foresees e-books having big impact soon

Se-Education Plc (Se-Ed) is warning book publishers to prepare for a surge in e-books in the second half of the year as more tablet computers and e-book readers enter the local market.

Thanong Chotisorayuth, the managing director of Thailand's biggest bookstore chain, said the higher competition in tablets and e-book readers would spur the growth of content for the devices.

"We will see a significant change in the domestic book industry with the number of reading devices rising significantly," he said.

While e-book numbers remain low in Thailand at the moment, recent reports that Borders Group, the second-largest bookstore chain in the US, is facing bankruptcy are worrying many local publishers.

They are concerned the impact of e-books could result in some of them meeting the same fate.

Mr Thanong estimates tablets and e-book readers number between 200,000 and 300,000 in the country at the moment, although not all are used specifically for book reading.

Limited free content and a lack of software to support Thai-language content remain barriers to growth in Thailand's e-book market.

"Book publishers must adapt a new business model to address the situation, while the issues of copyright protection, licence fees and pricing need to be discussed more," said Mr Thanong.

He said prices of e-books should be 30-40% below those of physical books, as at that level both authors and publishers can still enjoy a satisfactory turnover.

Se-Ed recorded 10% sales growth last year, higher than the average of 5% to 7.5% for the industry as a whole.

The company forecasts the domestic book industry will expand by less than 5% this year, while its own business will grow by more than 10%, helped by 25 new stores set to open.

The number of new book launches rose by 11% last year from 2009. Literature remained the most popular category and enjoyed the highest proportion of launches.

Textbooks and how-to books gained, with 23% growth in each category.

More than 70-80% of book sales came from bookstore chains, while independent shops accounted for the rest.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/222033/se-ed-foresees-e-books-having-big-impact-soon

[isanbirder]

The charge for an e-book from Amazon and other suppliers (barring of course the free out-of-copyright ones) is almost as high as the cost of a paperback.  I've tried using an e-book reader, and still think a paperback is much pleasanter to handle, and easier on the eyes.  There may be an initial surge as more readers come on the market, but I doubt whether it will last.... but then I often seem to say that about innovations, and am usually wildly wrong.

[Admin]

Asia Books launches e-books store  
Bangkok Post: 16 Mar 2011

Asia Books tries e-books

Expects to have 1m titles in new format

Asia Books, the country's largest English-language bookstore chain and distributor, has launched Thailand's first e-book store, expecting to offer more than one million digital titles to readers by the end of this year.

"We decided to open an e-book store because books make up the second largest share of the country's online shopping trade," said managing director Sirote Jiraprayoon.

The company has invested 5 million baht to develop an operational server and digital rights management system (DRM) for the e-book store. This year it plans to spend an additional 6-7 million baht for system maintenance and development of new features.

Partnering with the PC maker Dell Corporation (Thailand), Asia Books has also developed e-book kiosks in its 10 magnet outlets throughout Bangkok to offer book lovers more convenient access to digital content.

Its e-book store has more than 500,000 English titles in its database.

Asia Books expects to add Thai-language content to the store by August and will launch an e-book application in another four months.

The company also offers multiple payment channels as some Thais feel uneasy or even unsafe when making online purchases. Customers can buy e-books from Asia Books' website and pay for purchases via credit card, bank transfer, counter service and PayPal.

Mr Sirote added the company would continue with its sales of physical books as the country's e-book market was still limited. Asia Books did not set a sales target for e-books this year because of the minute market.

"It is quite difficult to estimate the growth of the country's e-book market. We expect next year the market will expand dramatically, but it depends on the growth of reading devices and the availability of interesting content," he said.

Meanwhile, Patchara Samudavanija, editor-in-chief of Mars magazine, said the growth of the e-book market would bring new reading dimensions to both publishers and readers.

Mars was among the first Thai magazines to introduce an e-magazine to the Thai market. Mr Patchara said publishers could save substantially on paper costs but had to redesign their content presentation to fit the digital platform.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/226922/asia-bookstries-e-books