Every party has to end

The new compact newspaper launches on Wednesday.

We would like to thank our readers for your support over these many years. We have had fun bringing you the latest news about arts and entertainment events in Thailand and beyond.

Weekend magazine was first published in early 1997. In the beginning, it was a bound magazine on bond paper, with a focus on local entertainment and Hollywood films. It was first edited by Veena Thoopkrajae. Later the magazine was redesigned as a newspaper tabloid to accommodate a tighter deadline so it could include late-breaking updates of events.

Revised in 2001, Weekend brushed up its look and content with a new "entertainment and lifestyle" concept. The magazine covered art, culture, alternative music, performing arts, street dining, leisure, gay issues and new media entertainment - like MP3s, video games, the Internet and music downloads.

While this may be the last issue, Weekend's content will be at the core of Daily Xpress. This will include the regular Weekend features like Plugged In, Quench, Sanctuary, Cheap Eats, Shopaholic by Pattarawadee Saengmanee, Alternatives by Ayor (Paisarn Likhitpreechakul), humour by S Tsow, theatre reviews and previews by Pawit Mahasarinand and film reviews by Wise Kwai. I'd like to thank all my staff.

We hope our readers will follow us as we make our move to the compact Daily Xpress format. In the meantime, enjoy your weekend.

Our colleagues say:

Veena Thoopkrajae, editor emeritus: It seems like yesterday when the first issue of Weekend magazine made its debut in 1997. But the figures never lie and it has been more than a decade that the people behind the magazine - past and present - have tried their best every single week to meet our original concept as "your guide for entertainment".

Yet the effort by the editorial staff accounts for only a tiny part of the success. Like other publications, Weekend would have been nothing without its faithful fans. And I mean it: it is you guys who contribute to the life of the magazine.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank all the staff who helped put this magazine together, including Hari Kumar, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Owen Flint, Jim Hawkers, Anil Menon, Brad Cheng and Curtis Winston as well as the founding contributors, including S Tsow, Natayada na Songkhla, Cookman, DJ Bee, Kenneth Ywin and Badboy.

My compliments to Phatarawadee Phataranawik who replaced me at Weekend in 2001 and turned it into a livelier entertainment magazine.

The good news is that the heart of Weekend will remain in Daily Xpress, the new, daily freesheeter by the same team of journalists. We hope you guys enjoy it in the same way you have Weekend.

This is meant to be a good-bye, but I'd like to differ by welcoming you all to our new home.

Graeme Loveridge, sub-editor: Like all those one-baht coins that gather like hardened lint in your pocket, change is inevitable. Going to miss Weekend, though.

Manta Klangboonkrong, writer: Bye, see you somewhere after dark.

Ekkarat Sukpetch, photographer: See us in the new look, but same soul.

Curtis Winston, copy editor and layout sub-editor: I had always aspired to work someplace where I could combine my love for film, music and pop culture with my addiction for the smell of fresh ink on newsprint. Working on Weekend was like a dream come true. While I'm sad to see Weekend fade away, I'm excited by the prospect of getting back to my roots in the daily newspaper business and practicing my craft with Daily Xpress.

Ekkaphob Kriangsak, designer: ... [He's speechless.]

Pattarawadee Saengmanee, shopping correspondent: Goodbye to my first home. Looking forward our new home.

Natthawut Monchaitanapat, designer: Weekend passes away, like a dream is fading.

Kriangsak Tangjerdjarad, photo editor: I compare the closure of Weekend to my first case of acne, marking my officially becoming a teenager. I remember how excited and hurt I felt.

Pawit Mahasarinand, theatre correspondent: Last October, when I spotted a copy of my Weekend Highlight article on a bulletin board at the Esplanade in Singapore, I knew that this second home of mine was like no others. And now that we're moving, my home is not broken. We'll simply be under a new roof, and all family members remain intact."

From Elvis Presley, via a production staff member: "Now that the stage is bare and I'm standing there with emptiness all around, and if you won't come back to me, then they can bring the curtain down."

Ayor, gay columnist:

Farewell Poem for Weekend

O my love's red like a betel spit

That smack-landed outside a spittoon.

O my love's like democracy

That blooms currently in Rangoon.

So cute was your bony little ass,

So deep in love was I.

And I would love you still, my dear,

Had a cuter butt not come by.

A cuter butt has come by, my dear.

Now your rocks can rot in the sun.

O I did love you. But really,

With vacuum cleaner I'd had more fun.

So fare-you-well, my only Love!

Don't come closer than a mile

Or I will throw your ass, my love,

To feed Gaydar crocodiles.

Phatarawadee Phataranawik