Bangkok Post
NOVEMBER 8, 2007
A brief history of the Post ...
Once the Bangkok Post moved to its second office on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, a new flat bed presses and the Heidelberg press was introduced. In those days the composing room was located in the same area as the presses.
Krung Kasem (1946 - 1956)
Until 1946, English-language newspapers had been a recipe for disaster in Thailand. But that did not deter the founders of the Bangkok Post, Its founders, former US Navy Commander Alexander ‘‘Mac’’ MacDonald, Prasit Lulitanond, Dr Thawee Tavedikul, Maj Vilas Osathanon, Ajint Unhanatana, Damrong Duritrak and Chavala Sukumalnantana had three things in common — blind faith, determination and lack of money. Post Publishing and the Bangkok Post was first housed at 934 Krung Kasem Road in a two-storey house located between Saphan Khao and Nanglerng opposite a canal glutted with boats and its occupants. The printing press was a salvaged wartime Japanese rotary press. This was something of a no-name hybrid, cobbled together using typefaces obtained from Singapore. The Bangkok Post was launched on 1 August 1946 as an afternoon, four-page broadsheet, printing 500 copies and distributed to 200 paid subscribers.
From 1956 to 1962 the Bangkok Post’s home was on Ratchadamnoen Avenue, first on the north side of the avenue between the Democracy Monument and the Lottery Bureau. In 1962, the Bangkok Post moved across the street.
Above: Copy and layout editors hover over their work at the editorial offices of the Bangkok Post which was initially housed on the third floor of the U-Chuliang Building. Left: The pasting up of news pages continued for many years to come — even when the Bangkok Post moved its offices to Klong Toey in 1992.
U-Chuliang, Rama IV (1973 - 1992)
By 1972 the Bangkok Post was no longer a family affair and larger offices were needed. In 1973 the company and newspaper moved to the U-Chuliang Building on 968 Rama IV Road. At Ratchadamnoen, new technology had overtaken the compositors and pages were no longer made up by arranging metal type. Punched paper tape was the new medium and staff was retrained. But at U-Chuliang, they had to be retrained again when the newspaper’s first computers with their floppy disks and green 9 inch screens appeared. New presses, techniques and opportunities marked the beginning of a huge learning curve with no end in sight. Specialist sections were introduced and overseas training for key Thai staff began. Restructuring was also evident in the boardroom. After the death of Lord Thomson in 1976 his shares were sold to Thai shareholders, including what is now the Central Group. Then in 1984, Post Publishing took a major step to establish its roots and importance as a Thai newspaper - shares in the newspaper company were floated on the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Christmas Day 25 December. The newspaper now had two press lines — the Goss Community from Ratchadamnoen and a newer and more up-to-date variation on Goss Community. Towards the end of the 1980s, the Bangkok Post as a newspaper expanded rapidly, adding on many new sections. This expansion continued even as it moved to its new home in Klong Toey.
In those early days of Krung Kasem and Ratchadamnoen, every headline, every word on every story had to be set by hand — letter-byletter. It was a painstaking process, which was carried out daily for years.
Ratchadamnoen (1956 - 1973)
The Post had to move from its Krung Kasem home because its owner sold the premises. The Post moved to the north side of Ratchadamnoen Avenue between the Democracy Monument and the Lottery Bureau. The company bought a new flat-bed press and two reconditioned presses. In 1962, the Bangkok Post moved across the street to the former D. Couper-Johnston premises on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. In 1963 a deal was struck under which Canadian-born press baron Lord Thomson of Fleet Street purchased a majority shareholding providing an injection of capital and expertise. A new flatbed and a Heidelberg press were installed and that was followed by a Goss Community rotary web offset press. That put it headto-head with Bangkok World and market forces finally led the directors of both companies to pool their resources. The 1971 merger created Allied Newspapers and a revamped Bangkok World was launched as an afternoon tabloid
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