THAI SAYS SAWASDEE TO MEDIA FACTORY

Thai Airways has suspended its contract with Dubai-based publisher The Media Factory (TMF) for its inflight magazine Sawasdee.
According to reports TMF failed to deliver copies of the June issue, citing the recent political turmoil in Bangkok. The Bangkok Post adds that TMF failed to "secure enough advertisements" for the June issue, and failed to impress the airline's management with recent editorial changes. A breach of contract was served as a result of the failure to deliver the June issue which "gave Thai Airways a good excuse to find a new publisher for its monthly magazine." Media Transasia has stepped in to produce a combined June/July edition.
The contract to produce the inflight magazine for Thai Airways requires the publisher to pay a fee to the airline for the publishing rights, along with a percentage of all advertising revenues. The fact that rate card prices for Sawasdee under TMF were amongst the highest in the kingdom give you an idea of the kind of money that Thai Airways expects to generate from granting the rights. The print bill for producing hundreds of thousands of copies each month is also likely to be a huge burden for the successful publisher.
I am familiar with the workings of Sawasdee under TMF because my previous company assisted with the design and Thai translations during the first six months of the TMF contract, so I can say with authority that Thai Airways were not the easiest client to deal with. Changes requested by one person were then amended and changed by someone further up the authority ladder. It seemed everyone wanted to make their mark on the magazine, and that resulted in many, many late nights running up to deadlines.
Publishing the inflight magazine for Thai Airways may seem like an attractive prospect for some publishers, but personally I'd steer well clear of it right now.