The fashion show at this month's Magazine Association of Thailand exhibition had a dark theme, which is considered chic these days perhaps, but it could also have been a grim forecast for the publishing industry.

New magazines will find it hard to penetrate the competitive market, warned Thanachai Theerapatanawong as the exhibition opened at Siam Paragon.

The association's president is also head of the Nation Group, which publishes several magazines as well as The Nation.

And the nearly 1,400 magazines already available in Thailand will have to develop both better content and better marketing to grab increasingly distracted readers, he said.

That applies particularly to women's magazines, which constitute more than half the market.

"Once in a while I'll read women's magazines, but lately I think they're just nonsense," says browser Caroline Wong, a 23-year-old lawyer who prefers home-decorating periodicals.

"I'm not a fancy dresser, I don't use makeup or blow-dry my hair, and I don't give a damn about Hollywood gossip."

She's not alone in her dim view of what's on offer. Bookstore shelves are no longer jammed with just women's mags, as shoppers increasingly ask for publications on travel, music, photography and cars.

Magazine readers are also getting fed up with the ads.

"I wish Thai magazines had more creative content," says Metha Punwaratorn, 24, a newspaper football columnist. "Most of them focus on whatever sells best, and that lessens their individuality and freshness. Even A Day, which used to be full of pure, creative ideas, has lost its originality and given way to marketing. Its image hasn't changed, but its soul has."

Phatarada Tritiprungroj, 23, is an advertising executive, and still gets turned off by the ads.

"I prefer magazines with less commercial content, that are packed with information. These days the thickness of a magazine is mostly about how many ads it has."

Apart from trying to stay alive without advertising, what can editors and publishers do to get readers turned on again?

"Women's magazines have new topics now, like health and relationships, in addition to the regular fashion and beauty columns, and in the future we want to add more how-to columns," says Priew editor Nittaya Sirisakpaiboon.

Others are introducing columns on careers, travel and home decor.

Cosmopolitan, known for its unabashed sexiness, is planning more local content for Thai women, as are its sister editions around the world.

Although most of Thai Cosmopolitan's content is translated from English, editor-in-chief Chearanee Chittasevi says subtle changes are made to benefit local readers. As an example, she cites the fact - made clear in her edition - that, unlike in the US, you don't need an appointment to see a gynaecologist in Thailand.

Localising stories is a practice followed

by Prayer Kavitanon, editor-in-chief of the

Thai edition of Seventeen.

"Our content is adaptable to real life and responds to our target readers, which is really difficult to find in other magazines," she says.

Pantipa Sakulchai of Note Publishing, which produces TV Pool, says women's magazines are heading into niche markets now.

"Most of the women's and fashion magazines we have in Thailand are for the biggest readership segment - women aged 26 to 50. Overseas there are already magazines for the 'menopause market' - women age 50 and up."

But marketing will continue to rule the day, observers believe.

"Freebies have increased our sales remarkably," says Laikram Lerdvitayaprasit of GMM Inter Publishing, which produces Maxim, Her World and Madame Figaro. "Events like the model search for Maxim draw applicants to our magazine."

And several women's magazines have come out with miniature editions, easier to carry. Others are getting gung-ho about lifestyle.

"We've created the weekly Women Plus for modern women who want more frequent editions," says Pakorn Pongvarapa of GM Multimedia Public.

Wilak Lohtong of Inspire Entertainment, the company behind Arena and the Thai edition of FHM, says salesmanship is the way to go.

"In the future, magazines will concentrate on managing their brand. There will be more interactive multimedia marketing, including on the Internet, mobile phones and pocket TVs. Supplements will be a big part of it."

But Pakorn insists there'll be more meat to the magazines as well.

"Magazines will become more professional and readers much more savvy. Advertising content itself has to be more enjoyable because readers are getting bored."

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation