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Published on December 11, 2007

Under the government's policy, both public and private universities are required to compete with each other in terms of knowledge base and management, in order to become real educational institutions.

Public universities, in particular, will have independent administrations and will have to generate their own income. Entering the market, new universities are opening upcountry to offer equal educational opportunities for all people.

In response to the policy, many universities in both Bangkok and upcountry have launched new faculties, to serve demand from students and industry.

Witthayaphat managing director Sathit Uruwong-wanich said all universities were now able to design curricula and recommend textbooks on their own and that new faculties meant a demand for new subjects.

"The open-university system will allow students to choose their own textbooks, and this creates a business opportunity for us," he said.

As a result, the company plans to get closer to students by turning to direct selling to universities.

Previously, its main marketing channel was through universities' book centres and bookshops.

Since early this year, the company has focused more on improving the content and design of its textbooks and working closely with targeted customers.

Moreover, it has taken part in a number of academic seminars and contacted more researchers in a bid to increase its number of textbook writers. At present, Witthayaphat has 100 writers, half of them permanent staff.

As well, the company has entered a joint promotion with Krung Thai Card to allow students to purchase textbooks on instalment plans.

In a bid to ensure the safety of both readers and the en-vironment, the company has switched to ink made from soybean oil instead of the old-style chemicals that used dangerous substances like the heavy

metals lead and cadmium.

"We hope our sales will grow 20 per cent this year," Sathit said, adding that Witthayaphat had published 200 textbooks and was planning to increase that number 10-20 per cent next year.

Despite the company safeguarding its copyright with a technique called "Copy Protect", which makes its books more difficult to copy, it still faces a major problem from copyright violation. At present, only 5-6 per cent of its books are covered by "Copy Protect".

Sathit said the company intended to focus most on textbooks as its core business.

"Competition in the textbook industry is concerned most with quality of content, accuracy, modernity and ease in understanding. If the content is wrong, it means the readers get 'poisoned'," he said.

He said the government should abolish the collection of value-added tax on textbooks. That would reduce the costs of publishing houses, directly reduce textbook prices and upgrade the industry.

Achara Pongvutitham

 The Nation