BANGKOK — A major English-language newspaper is set to shutter its printed editions, a source said Wednesday.
According to a source inside The Nation, paper issues of the English-language daily will be discontinued in favor of a solely online platform. The last edition is expected to run on June 28. A formal announcement is expected “soon”, the source said.
The Nation’s English language daily was founded on July 1, 1971, or 48 years ago.
In recent years, the paper has been plagued by financial losses. Nation Multimedia Group, which owns The Nation, lost 1.7 billion baht in 2017 alone. Just last week, the group pulled its TV channel, Spring 26, from free-to-view digital TV.
In 2015, a co-founder of the Nation Multimedia Group, Suttichai Yoon, resigned as chief editor and chairman. In 2018, a news mogul behind ultraconservative outlet T News acquired a majority of shares in the Nation group.
The Nation Multimedia Group consists of two digital TV stations, two Thai papers, a publishing house, and an English paper.
Papers have been shuttering left and right since the advent of social media in Thailand. Baan Muang, a 45-year-old paper, printed its final edition on New Year’s Day 2017.
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