FARANG: GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN

More than two years after its final edition there's one magazine that holds a special place in the hearts of many visitors to Thailand as well as long term expats.
The last edition of Farang magazine, which later became Untamed Travel, was published in March 2007 but in September the story of the magazine is set to be told in the soon-to-be-launched Southeast Asia Globe magazine.
Cameron Cooper, Farang's former Managing Director and now Managing Editor for the new title, tells The Bangkok Bugle: "Anyone who cares to read a lengthier story about what happened with Farang should pick up the September debut issue of the Thai edition of the Southeast Asia Globe, because I will spill my guts on the subject over the course of 2,000 words or so. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and perhaps spare a moment to contemplate the frailty of the human condition."
Commenting on my post last year which revealed copies of the magazine were still being sold long after it had ceased publishing, Cameron says: "I'm glad to hear some people still lament its passing, I know all of us working there did." And in a story that will be familiar to every publisher in Thailand, he adds: "There was never a problem with readership, it was rather the problem of convincing advertisers that while under the name Farang, was in fact the best selling domestic English language magazine in the country for at least three years - with Metro, which has also ceased publishing, coming in not too horribly far behind. This was according to Asia Books and Bookazine. But in this unaudited market anyone can make that claim, and they did."
From the outside Farang looked like a profitable title, but Cameron explains: "Advertisers didn't know what to make of it because it didn't fit into any marketing textbook niche. Perhaps our own branding could have been done better, who knows? But slowly we lost a small bit of money each month until the debt grew unmanageable, and we finally closed the doors after the March 2007 issue."
Cameron concludes by saying: "For those who enjoyed it, thanks for reading it all those years. We loved producing it and in all it was a great. if somewhat heartbreaking, experience."
The first issue of the Thailand edition of Southeast Asia Globe magazine is set to appear in September 2009.