International book fairs fall broadly into two groups: industry-facing and public-facing, although almost all are a mixture of the two. And in the current pandemic crisis public-facing events – that can bring literally millions of people together in one place – are especially hard hit.
But Thailand’s Bangkok International Book Fair – in the million-visitor public-facing category – has opted to go ahead online despite the real-life cancellation.
It’s certainly not a replacement for the real-life event, which hopefully we’ll see back on schedule in 2021. But given it was put together at very short notice and most participants will have been ill-prepared for this enforced digital engagement – the result is pretty impressive, as per this screenshot of the live show, which alternates promotions and discussions.
Despite the image selected (to show English-language books are part of the show), it’s mostly in Thai, of course, but worth checking out.
But it’s not just children’s books, as this screenshot shows from a video promoting cookbooks.
Visit the Bangkok International Book Fair website and (until April 5) online live event here.
