National Book Fair in Bangkok set Oct 18-29

BANGKOK, October 18 (TNA) - The general public and international visitors are welcome to Thailand's 22nd National Book Fair, being held at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok during October 18-29. Thai Deputy Prime Minister General Tanasak Patimapragorn (ธนะศักดิ์ ปฏิมาประกร) on Wednesday inaugurated the 12-day National Book Fair, organized by the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (PUBAT), during which books, articles and songs written and composed by late His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej are on display and sold to the visitors, together with books about royal stories, activities and projects written for a lasting remembrance of the late and beloved Thai monarch. Besides, literary works royally-supported for publishing and for public tele-learning through the information technology (IT) system in the reign of the late King Rama IX, including youth encyclopaedia and scriptures of different religions that have been translated to the Thai language, are publicized and sold. "The late His Majesty used to suggest that books are like knowledge banks which truely support humans' progressive development and this year's National Book Fair is aimed to demonstrate the late His Majesty's talents and competency in literary works through books, articles and songs authored and composed by the late and beloved Thai King himself", General Tanasak said. According to the deputy premier, a highlight of the 22nd National Book Fair is the display of the Wong Wannakhadee Magazine of the August 1947 issue, in which the late His Majesty's memorable literary work on "When I Depart Siam For Switzerland" was published, as it was the late and revered Thai monarch's first literary work after his accession to the throne. The deputy prime minister announced that 1,600 copies of the Wong Wannakhadee Magazine would be handed to visitors of the 22nd National Book Fair daily free of charges in two rounds, 800 copies each, persuading people to also download the royal article at the [www.bupat.or.th] website free of charges after the 12-day ongoing National Book Fair. The Thai deputy premier noted that more than one million selected books from 389 publishing houses are on public display and sold at 939 booths inside the 12-day National Book Fair. Meanwhile, the Thai government plans to open online libraries in 5,000 communities nationwide over the next five years to promote reading among local people, coupled with the competition of modeled reading cities, to be in line with a strategic master plan 2017-2021 on promoting the reading culture towards the knowledge-based Thai society. (TNA)