A BLAST FROM THE PAST

Untamed Travel magazine was an English language travel magazine that disappeared more than 18 months ago. It was previously known as Farang magazine, and up until earlier this year the publishers were still offering the brand for sale.
Last week I was somewhat surprised to see quite a few copies of Untamed Travel for sale as part of a sale at one of Thailand's leading bookshops. They were on offer for 40 baht compared to the original cover price of 99 baht.
The question I have is where will the revenue for the one December 2006 copy I purchased go? Stricly speaking the publisher should get it, less the bookshop commission, because I doubt very much these copies were ever paid for by the shop when that edition was first published. And where have those copies been for the last 19 months? Sitting in a stockroom in the shop would be my guess.
This story actually highlights the lack of control and any kind of paper trail within a substantial part of the magazine distribution network in Thailand. Each copy needs to be accounted for, and I'm pleased to say that's exactly what happens in the case of my magazine; we're almost unique in that sense. The last thing I want to see if copies of my publication being offered for sale at a discount months after publishing. It does absolutely nothing for the brand image.