A DIFFICULT BIRTH
The Bangkok Post faced censorship and a shortage of money and equipment in its early years before finding its niche as the world’s window on Thailand, write Sriwipa Siripunyawit and Kateprapa Buranakanonda
The birth of a newspaper is always a difficult task and that of the Bangkok Post was no different. The newspaper was founded shortly after the end of World War II by Alexander MacDonald. The former US Office of Strategic Services officer had a journalism degree from Boston University and had worked for more than a decade as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Hawaii.
He recognised a void: the only English-language newspaper in Thailand before then was the Bangkok Times, which closed during the war.
MacDonald took his idea to Prasit Lulitanond and Thawee Tavedikul and together they explored the possibility of setting up a new English-language newspaper.
Everything was in short supply in the postwar years. Finding printing equipment was their most challenging task. They first went to the old publishing house of the Bangkok Times on Hong Kong Bank Lane, New Road, only to find there was nothing left.
The founders had to look elsewhere and later stumbled on a Japanese printing house in the Saphan Khao area that published the Kao Parb newspaper, a photo news daily that featured the war activities of the Japanese occupation force. The house was abandoned after the war and placed under the Enemy Property Office.
The founders found the printing machine was still in good condition, although some printing typefaces were missing. There was also no English printing type in the country but it could be ordered from abroad.
The next move was to approach the American embassy and request the purchase of the printing house. The application was approved, and their plan began to take shape.
They also had some luck because they found the Japanese printing machine they had acquired was a rotary press — the most modern of its kind in those days. The men ordered the English printing type for their Japanese press from overseas.
They also borrowed equipment from the Thammasat Printing House. A new flatbed press was eventually bought and the old ones reconditioned.
Four months later, Post Publishing Company Ltd was registered, with MacDonald as the first managing director. By now, there were seven other co-founders: Prasit Lulitanond, Thawee Tavedikul, Luang Sukhum-nai-pradit, Maj Vilas Osathanon, Ajint Unhanantana, Luang Damrong Duritrek and Chavala Sukhumlnantana.
With a staff of 25 including delivery boys and typesetters, the 500 copies of the first issue of the Bangkok Post rolled off the press on Aug 1, 1946.
In the first month there were only 200 subscribers. Their homes became the first in Thailand to have newspaper boxes hanging outside the gate as the Bangkok Post was the first to start this practice. After two years, circulation had increased to 2,000. At present, the figure stands at 40,000.
The original Post home was at 934 Krung Kasem Road, a two-storey house between Saphan Khao and Nang Loeng. The property was sold and in 1957 the Post moved to Mansion 8, on the north side of Ratchadamnoen Avenue between the Democracy Monument and the Lottery Building. In 1962, the office moved across the street to Mansion 4 (the former D Couper-Johnston premises). In 1973, it moved to the U-Chu Liang Building on Rama IV Road before moving again in 1992 to its current location at 136 Na Ranong Road, off Sunthon Kosa Road in Klong Toey district. The premises occupy an area of 11,200 square metres.
In its early days, post-war politics exerted many constraints on the editorial policies of newspapers. The Bangkok Post was not exempt. A copy of the daily had to be sent to the Public Relations Department for approval.
Apart from political constraints, the Post was hit by a scarcity of printing equipment and newsprint, plus power shortages. Nevertheless, its unique position as an English-language daily read by not only the expatriate community but also the Thai elite and decision-makers meant that its news, editorials and analyses had an influence out of proportion to its size.
This is especially so in times of political uncertainty and upheaval when people often feel they cannot trust the state media or largely sensational Thai dailies.
Under the dictatorship of Field Marshal Plaek Phibulsonggram and Gen Phao Sriyanond, his close associate, the Bangkok Post fell victim to censorship.
It was accused of taking the side of former prime minister Pridi Banomyong, who had become estranged from the strongmen. MacDonald was ordered to leave the country in 1954. He was succeeded as editor by Harry Frederick, who had experience as a reporter in Los Angeles and Honolulu and was a war correspondent in the Western Pacific, Japan and Shanghai.
Prasit Lulitanond was another victim of the politics of the time. He spent nine years at Bang Kwang as a political prisoner before rejoining the Post as advertising manager in 1957.
Money was a persistent problem in those days until a large portion of the Post’s shares were sold to Canadian-born press baron Lord Thomson of Fleet (Roy Thomson) in 1963. The deal injected capital and expertise into the Post, enabling the company to buy a new web-offset rotary press.
At first the Post and the Bangkok World competed head to head as morning newspapers. However, the death of Darrell Berrigan, owner of the World, spelt trouble for that paper.
After talks, the Post eventually bought the paper. With the goal of providing readers with a 24-hour news service, the Post carried on publishing as a morning paper while the Bangkok World became an afternoon daily. For more than 10 years, Post Publishing was the main shareholder (75%) of Allied Newspapers Ltd, the operating company that published the Post and Bangkok World newspapers. World Press Co also entered the scene to own the other 25% of Allied Newspapers.
After the death of Lord Thomson in 1976, his shares were sold to Thai shareholders, including the Central Group. Eventually the company increased its capital to 20 million baht, made up of 2 million shares at 10 baht apiece. The shareholders of World Press took up 25% of this enlarged capital.
For the first 37 years, apart from Khun Prasit, the editors of the newspaper were expatriates.
From the 1970s to mid-1980s, day-to-day editorial and commercial operations were run by the trio of Michael Gorman, Ian Fawcett and Theh Chongkhadikij.
Gorman, who had worked for the Thomson Organization before joining the Bangkok Post, was editor and publisher from 1971 to 1983. He oversaw the merger of the Bangkok Post and Bangkok World.
Fawcett was a veteran newspaperman who began his career on the Melbourne Age and worked for Reuters, becoming bureau manager for India and later for the Middle East. He came to the Bangkok Post in 1977 as managing editor after a stint at the Sunday Telegraph and a distinguished career at the Thomson Organization. He became managing director in 1983 before retiring in 1988.
From 1970 to 1989, the Bangkok Post’s most prominent journalist was Theh Chongkhadikij, who joined the newspaper as a reporter in 1946.
Khun Theh held several senior editorial positions. He was managing editor of the Bangkok Post in 1971 and editor-in-chief of Allied Newpapers in 1972. He became the licensed editor of the Bangkok Post from 1983 to 1989.
For decades Khun Theh was known for his access and interviews with government leaders in Thailand and across the region. He was named the 1977 Mitsui Fellow for “his three decades of journalistic work in Thailand”.
The award cited Khun Theh’s reporting as contributing to the editorial and commercial success of the Bangkok Post while his interpretive reporting on Thailand and the region “helped raise the level of journalism in Thailand”.
Post Publishing acquired all shares in Allied Newspapers (July 1, 1984) and World Press (Aug 10, 1984), giving it a 100% stake. The new structure made it possible for Post Publishing to seek a listing on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). The application was submitted to the SET on Aug 17, 1984, and approved in early December. Trading of its shares started on Dec 25, 1984. Bangkok World was suspended at the end of August 1987 due to successive losses and the soaring price of newsprint. The closure of the newspaper was a tough decision, but it has proved beneficial to the company overall.
Central Group’s Samrit Chirathivat, who joined the board in 1976, became board chairman in 1987 and played a significant role in moving Post Publishing to its home in Klong Toey in 1992. In 1982, Suthikiati Chirathivat joined the board and became executive committee chairman. He is now chairman of the board of directors and chairman of the executive committee of Post Publishing.
Thailand’s financial crisis in 1997 tested the company’s strength and resilience.
In 1998, despite severe economic constraints, the Post continued to provide in-depth coverage of major domestic, regional and global events. The circulation remained high at 56,750 due to its reputation as a leading English-language newspaper in Asia.