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Bangkok Book Festival returns, online


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The “Bangkok Book Festival” is returning this Friday, after making prior appearances in 2015 and 2016. The theme will be “The magic of Paper” as the 3rd non-annual festival seems to invoke a mood of wonder and “knowledge” of paper. The intention is to inspire readers and promote reading through 6 activities. Activities such as talks and books for sale. There will also be a “Book Zoo Exhibition” and “Movie Time” at the Goethe Institute. There will also be an art exhibition entitled “Safe and sound Gallery” presented at the Jam Factory Gallery. There was supposed to be a papercraft […]

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I read a lot, that used to work out expensive in Thailand. It was always on my list of minuses for living here.

Over the past 14 years, the Kindle, along with the ebook sharing communities, have been a huge boon to me. I highly recommend the current Oasis model, especially with the worn leather cover they sell for it. I far prefer it to paper books.

In recent years I have also become fond of audiobooks, especially while walking or swimming. I use a Plex server and a phone app called Prologue to stream them to myself.

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I have given up reading here in the Far East. At the Canterbury Tales bookshop in Pattaya some paperbacks were £5. True they gave fifty percent reduction on return off another book, but it is still £2.50 a book!

Many of the books are sold to this store by maids that find them left in hotel rooms. I doubt they receive B25 for them.

If I wanted to sell them a book, they gave only B40 - B50, and that was a credit note.

This is a case of killing the golden goose. I stopped going. Thai greed killed the deal.

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13 minutes ago, SickBuffalo said:

I read a lot, that used to work out expensive in Thailand. It was always on my list of minuses for living here.

Over the past 14 years, the Kindle, along with the ebook sharing communities, have been a huge boon to me. I highly recommend the current Oasis model, especially with the worn leather cover they sell for it. I far prefer it to paper books.

In recent years I have also become fond of audiobooks, especially while walking or swimming. I use a Plex server and a phone app called Prologue to stream them to myself.

I too read a lot and found it a very expensive habit in Thailand. The costs of new books are extremely high and those second hand shops will give you very little for them, but then sell them again at close to new prices. I once went to a used book shop in Chiang Mai with a couple of new books that I had finished reading and was offered 40 baht each for them.  It was as good a price as all the other shops so I took my 80baht and I looked around at their books. The prices were only 50 baht less than Asia Books sells them brand new (book store in most Malls).  A few weeks later I was there again and I looked for my books I had sold to them - and sure enough they were priced at 350 baht - I walked out and never bothered again.

Here in Aust I can find new books for sale very cheaply ($5-$10), and many of the charity places sell good books for $2-$5 - I donate them after reading and buy another bunch.

Never tried Kindle etc - might have to give that a try - I found reading things on wife's iPad difficult but will give it a go.  Audio books sounds good (pun) - might have to look into that too.  Either way, there is no way I am again paying so much for books in Thailand in the future. Thanks for the tips.

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I use to carry four or five paperbacks for a month long trip, and still sometimes would buy another one in country.  Same on business trips elsewhere.  The kindle has been game changing.

We sold most of my library to half price books before moving here.  11 boxes of books and they gave me $70.  I had individual reference works that I paid more than that for in the lot.

I only brought my Terry Pratchet collection and a dozen or so other favorites.  Now all new books are ebooks.

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1 hour ago, AussieBob said:

Never tried Kindle etc - might have to give that a try

 

21 minutes ago, KhunG said:

The kindle has been game changing.


A nice point about the kindle, or any other ereader, is that, of course, you can find almost any book for free as soon as it is published, they download in a flash, and you can carry tens of thousands on one device.

For those with qualms about piracy, I reckon there is a valid case to be made that, morally, there is nothing wrong with grabbing an ebook or audiobook version of a book that you previously owned in paper form.
 

Edited by SickBuffalo
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