Comics in Thailand - A Special Comic Book Bin Feature

By Hervé St-Louis
February 24, 2012 - 09:56

Thailand is a cool place, beyond the clichés of Bangkok being an exotic city. It is a kingdom where Buddhist culture prevails with the population of 64 million people, and has a capital city, Bangkok, that is a world city. Thai culture is graced with its own comic book culture, despite the strong presence of manga from the rest of Asia. Thailand though has its own unique comic book culture, and as we will soon see, it is several centuries old.

Source: CIA Fact-book

Modern comic books are easy to find in Thailand. There are home based publishers that publish both local artists and, of course, translate into Thai script, comic books from Japan, China, Korea, and North America. With a population the size of France, the United Kingdom, or Italy, Thailand has everything it needs to have a strong local comic book industry. Like other Asian cultures, it is a visually-rich culture with comic book avatars used in publicity, retail and communication.

Join The Comic Book Bin in its exploration of this comic book world, one that many simply ignore exists. At The Bin, we're hoping that after these series of six articles are written, that Thai comics will ceased being overshadowed by offerings from the rest of Asia. The first article in this series looks at what is possibly the oldest comic book in Thailand. Let the tour begin.

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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