Publishers bid to tackle fee increase

The issue led to a heated debate between the two companies and 200 local book publishers at a meeting yesterday hosted by the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand (Pubat).
 Publishers claimed the plan could affect the final prices of books delivered to customers and urged both distributors to revise it.
 On July 5, Amarin Book Centre and Se-Education jointly wrote to the Book Distribution Promotion Club, which represents more than 200 publishers in the Kingdom, stating that they planned to raise distribution-centre fees by at least 1 per cent of the logistics cost, calculated based on the final price of a book.
 They said such a move was necessary in light of the government’s hike in the minimum daily wage to Bt300 in April.
 “Businesses related to logistics, and retailers such as bookstores, are largely subject to the minimum-wage increase. Following this hike, the company has seen a near 40-per-cent increase in its operating costs, which is a level we cannot bear,” Thanong Chotisorayuth, managing director of Se-Education, said yesterday.
 Thanad Thaipinnarong, managing director of Amarin Book Centre, said his company faced the same problem, which translated into extra costs of Bt2 a month.
 Thanon said that over the past five years, the fixed cost of book production had remained unchanged at about Bt0.80 per page. However, logistics and labour costs have increased by 40 per cent, which means publishers might have to consider raising their retail prices, he added.
 In an attempt to resolve the current dispute with the two distributors, Pubat president Worapan Lokitsataporn said the association had proposed that they suspend the planned fee increase for 30 days.
 It is also establishing a special committee to work with all parties to find the best long-term way out of the problem.