While western publishing interests focus on traditional safe bets, Thailand is just one of many ASEAN countries I find really exciting.

Thailand’s premier literary event, the 54th National Book Fair & Bangkok International Book Fair 2026, attracted 1.3 million visitors across 12 days (26 March–6 April), matching last year’s figures despite economic headwinds.

The fair generated 534 million baht ($15.7 million) in total sales, meeting organisers’ targets.

Daily attendance averaged 80,000 on weekdays, climbing to approximately 100,000 on weekends and public holidays – figures consistent with the 2025 edition.

Gen Z Leads Demographic Shift

Young readers continue to dominate Thailand’s book market. Generation Z accounted for 46.26% of attendees, followed by Gen Y at 33.71% and Gen X at 10.21%, according to Pubat president Nattakorn Vuttichaipornkul. This aligns with broader regional trends where 69% of fair attendees fall within the 12–35 age bracket.

Publishers leveraged this demographic strength by deploying 200+ influencers and content creators across digital platforms to drive engagement.

Sales Breakdown: On-Site Growth and Rights Trading Boom

On-site book sales reached 444 million baht ($13.1 million), up 5% year-on-year. Visitor spending concentrated in the 500–1,000 baht ($14.71–$29.41) range (33.76% of buyers), with 22.02% spending under 500 baht ($14.71) and 14.51% spending 1,000–1,500 baht ($29.41–$44.12).

Fiction remained the top category, followed by comics – mirroring 2025 patterns where manga commanded 40% of total sales.

Thailand Consolidates Regional Rights Hub Status

The concurrent Bangkok Rights Fair 2026 (27–28 March) marked a watershed moment for the country’s publishing industry. Rights trading generated 90 million baht ($2.65 million) – a 50% year-on-year increase.

The rights fair convened 163 publishers and authors from 24 countries and territories (83 Thai, 80 international), conducting 624+ business-matching sessions. Key trading partners included South Korea, Taiwan, China, and India. International buyers showed strongest interest in novels and children’s books.

“With this level of rights trading, we can now say that Thailand has become a hub for foreign book copyright transactions in Asia,” Nattakorn stated.

The View From The Beach

The Thai book market has demonstrated remarkable post-pandemic recovery, reaching an estimated 18 billion baht ($530 million) in 2025, with Pubat revising 2026 forecasts upward to 20 billion baht ($589 million) following the fair’s performance.

This represents significant growth from 12.5 billion baht ($368 million) in 2021, though still below pre-pandemic peaks of 30 billion baht ($883 million).

While western publishing interests focus on traditional safe bets, Thailand is just one of many ASEAN countries I find really exciting. Let me single out Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia for special mention, but global publishing would do well to be looking at every player in this region as we wind down the 2020s.

This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.