Forbes ventures into the Thai market

Tightening its grip over the Southeast Asian market, Forbes Media has inked a deal to launch Forbes Thailand in partnership with the Bangkok Post.Published in Thai language, the first edition will be launched in June this year. With an expected circulation of about 100,000 copies per month, the title will cater to CEOs, investors, aspiring entrepreneurs and policy-makers across the country.According to Kantar Media, Forbes held 21% market share of regional ad spending in international business or news publications, last year.Altogether, the Forbes brand in Asia has a combined circulation of 370,000 and comes ahead of The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune and The Economist.Krisda Sawamiphakdi who last held the position of as senior executive vice-president of Asia Plus Securities will be the CEO of Forbes Thailand while long time journalist Nopporn Wonganan will take on the role of editor-in-chief.Wonganan has worked with Bangkok Post, The Asian Wall Street Journal and Reuters in the past.Supakorn Vejjajiva, COO, The Post Publishing Public Company, publisher and distributor of Bangkok Pos, said: "We believe that Forbes is the leading global business magazine brand and with Post Publishing's leading position in the Thai media market, our partnership in launching Forbes Thailand will be a great success."Vejjajiva added that Forbes Thailand will be the key business media that serves the "increasingly sophisticated Thai corporate and entrepreneurial sector as it expands in Asia and globally."Forbes Thailand is the latest edition to 26 local editions of Forbes magazine around the world, including Forbes China, which is printed in Chinese.Forbes could not be reached for more comments at the time of writing.