PVPF 2024

Thailand and China Deepen Cultural Exchange Through Literature at Bangkok International Book Fair 2023

The children's book series tells intriguing stories about China's national parks. "These are high-quality children's books with storylines on environmental protection.
on Apr 11, 2023

Wisan Chedi, 51, was shopping for additional books at a Chinese book exhibition stand at the Bangkok International Book Expo 2023, holding various volumes, including one on China's high-quality growth.

"I'd want to know how China has accomplished such tremendous social and economic growth over the last decades by reading the literature," Wisan added.

Wisan, a public official in Thailand's aviation industry, was fascinated by Chinese culture and China's economic and social successes and began learning Mandarin in 2006. He can now read Chinese books and pronounce basic Chinese words and phrases.

"As a large nation, China promotes win-win cooperation, supporting collaboration with other countries for mutual advantages," he said, adding that China is concerned with making everyone rich. Thailand can learn a lot from China regarding governance and economic policy.

Wisan, holding another book about the economics of China's opening up, stated that he is also interested in themes such as Chinese modernization and renminbi (RMB) internationalization and plans to visit China through the China-Laos railway.

The 11-day book show, which finished on Sunday, drew Chinese book readers like Wisan and Thai industry players as the two nations increased collaboration and exchanges.

At the book show, Thailand's Hongsamut Publishing House contracted with China's Elephant Publishing House to introduce the latter's national park book series to Thailand.

The children's book series tells intriguing stories about China's national parks. "These are high-quality children's books with storylines on environmental protection. We think Thai children and parents would like the books, "said Ken Yu, Hongsamut's license director.

According to Ken, who has been in the market for over ten years, Thai readers are interested in a wide range of China-related issues and want to better understand China through Chinese novels.

Thai readers are interested in how China accomplished such quick development in such a short period. Therefore, they read Chinese novels about poverty reduction, government, finance, economics, and trade development, in addition to children's books, he added.

According to him, cultural affinity makes it simpler for Thai readers to grasp Chinese books, which are equally popular in Thailand.

One of "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles," a best-selling Chinese young-adult novel series that tells of the grave-robbing exploits of a young man from a family of tomb raiders, would be introduced into Thailand with another two novels under a contract signed between China's Xiamen International Book Company Ltd. (XIBC) and Thailand's Mangmoom Culture Co. Ltd.

In addition to physical books, the XIBC is looking for partnerships with Thai enterprises to market Chinese audiobooks in the Southeast Asian country. The XIBC sponsored a panel discussion concerning audiobooks during the book expo, including Thai publishing firms, producers, service providers, and book translators.

"They're all curious. We have made preliminary plans to collaborate with Thai partners. We hope that this will increase readers' access to Chinese literature abroad, allowing them to learn more about China and better understand the country, "Wu Yunxi, XIBC's board director and vice general manager, said.