'Matichon' feels oil-price heat
Thai-language daily Matichon yesterday raised its cover price from Bt8 to Bt10 in a move that is likely to trigger a price-hike trend in the local newspaper industry.
Matichon Plc said it decided to raise the price of its flagship publication to offset the high price of oil, which has greatly increased operating costs.The company said in a statement published in the paper yesterday that it had to face the rising costs of paper and print, as well as logistics. In raising the price, Matichon became the first local daily to succumb to the oil price rises, while other mass dailies such as Thai Rath, Daily News and Kom Chad Luek held their prices at Bt8. Nation Multimedia Group vice chairman Thanachai Santichaikul said Matichon could raise its price because it has no direct competitor. "Matichon is virtually the only intellectual and political Thai-language daily in the market right now," he said. Supakorn Vejjajiva, deputy CEO of Post Publishing Plc, which publishes the Bangkok Post and Post Today, said: "We increased the price of our English daily Bangkok Post from Bt20 to Bt25 last year. But the company is now concentrating on expanding the readership of Post Today, which is sold at Bt15, and we have no intention of raising the price this year." Thanachai said the Nation Group had already raised the price of its English-language daily The Nation to Bt25 from Bt20 and its Thai-language BizWeek by the same. It is yet to up the price of Kom Chad Luek or Krungthep Thurakit. "We have to see the situation with our competitors before deciding to increase the prices of the two papers," said Thanachai. "The rising oil price has seriously impacted the logistics costs of the papers, which have jumped by almost 30 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively, since the beginning of the year, he said. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn, The Nation
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