used bookstores chiang mai?

[ozyjon]

I don't read books, it takes too long to find out

the story, and i might miss something by not

looking at the traffic walking by. Rubberneck.

[kharmabum]

I started this thread about a minute after I started a similar thread in the pattaya forum about used bookstores in pattaya. so far the pattaya thread has 3 replies and 200 views. this one has 29 replies and over a 1000 views. does that mean that expats in chiang mai care about used bookstores 5times as much as expats in pattaya? or does it mean that chiang mai expats are 5 times more ready to argue?LOL

i love kindle and ebooks. but browsing used book stores, and finding an out of print book you've been searching for for years and then heading to a coffee shop to read it is one of the great joys of life and chiang mai offers ample opportunity for all those things. lets hope it always does.

[anto]

^Pattaya has far fewer serious /bookish folk for sure .

[northernjohn]

Yes. The major British bookseller is the only one doing well - must be because the Brits don't read so much...

No, they read. But not enough to make e-books the number one seller. It's the electronic version that is killing booksellers that sell paper books. In fact, people are reading more than ever before, due of the convenience of e-books. You can carry a hundred books (or a thousand) in a device that weighs less than a single large paperback, bringing them all from home when traveling, eliminating the need for the tourists to buy so many used books.

I read a fair amount and it is no longer a problem when traveling to pack enough books. I have about 400 on my kindle. Also I believe their is not a book store in the world that offers the selection you can get on Amazon or other e book providers and generally cheaper. In fact many are free if you happen to catch them at the right time.

Edit

I might add that there are places that I have traveled to that I need to buy a book light to read them at night 5 watt bulbs don't do it. Also my wife doesn't like it if I have to have a light on. My kindle needs no outside light source.

The lack of reading by my fellow 'mericans is evident from their selection of the Republicker Presidential candidate! Faux Noise babbles on...

I think they still read a lot but it is hard to find "Look Dick look see Spot run" on an e book supplier.

Edited June 5, 2016 by northernjohn

[scottiejohn]

Was Geckos owned by George?

Which 'George'?

[dru2]

Gecko was owned by 'American' George from San Francisco to where he has now returned.

Back Street and Lost Bookshop are owned by 'Irish George' from Eire.

Gecko was pretty good, but 'Irish' George's bookshops are the best in Southeast Asia and always outshone Gecko.

[FolkGuitar]

Gecko was pretty good, but 'Irish' George's bookshops are the best in Southeast Asia and always outshone Gecko.

They were pretty, but you can't judge a book by its cover. When I needed to find a specific title or subject, I could always depend on Gecko.

[Sparkles]

Please see me (and this thread) in two year's time. Set your calendar.

If he's still in business, I'll be happy to apologize to you and say that I was wrong. Otherwise, you may do so to me. Sound fair?

There are camera stores everywhere that still have huge stocks of unsold film cameras because they didn't diversify at the right time, clinging to the idea that 'there are still people who prefer film.' Time 'told' for them. Time will tell for the book business.

If I haven't fallen of the perch quite happy to take you on.You are no different than others that said the same thing to me 5 years ago.

Dasa Books on Sukumvit in Bangkok is no different ,has quadrupled his stock and space over the last few years and has a profitable mail order business for ,hard to find,second hand books,check his web site ,good operator.

"Irish" George has been in the book game for at least 20 years. Do you really consider he doesnt know the industry? Your blind loyalty to one book shop owner is commendable but you are ignoring the facts Backstreet has always had more to offer than than its next door neighbour Gecko and unlike yourself I shopped at both and others.I gave up on Gecko when it was obvious to anybody that he was deliberately, as was his prerogative, running the "empire" down with a view to getting out.

I will repeat that Irish George and Rob,On the Road Books are continuosly bringing in new titles/authors because their bread and butter is people like me who devour books and are searching for new authors and new books from favourite authors like Haken Nesser,Joe Nesbo,Ian Rankin,Michael Robotham,Michael Connoly,Arnaldur Indridson etc.

Suggest you pay a visit to Backstreet Books.With respect time to take the blinkers off, see for yourself the range over 2 floors,he's not going anywhere and still has the same staff he's had for since I arrived in CM 7 years ago.

I have no idea what you mean by Backstreet is "pretty" and comparing book shops to camera stores is irrelevent,chalk and cheese,

Books as gifts,with a personalised wriiten message inside will always be with us. British book seller saw a large increase in sales over last Christmas (As reported on BBC News)

Can't think of a better gift especially for children or close friends

[FolkGuitar]

See me in two years...

[TheSiemReaper]

100% agree that Backstreet and Lost Bookshop are the two best and I'd put Shaman Books ahead of Gecko too. I'm a voracious reader and it's clear that there's serious effort to create a book lover's paradise in Backstreet and Lost; folio editions of great travel writing, for example, simply couldn't be found elsewhere in town. I like the recent refit at Gecko's branch behind Boot's and Starbucks but they still have a way to go to match the quality of the books in other stores in town.

[anonymouse]

An interesting topic for me. I once owned a little bookshop cafe here myself By the Book on Rajawiti Rd if anyone remembers it..now a curry house.

I also supplied the original Gecko books with around 30,000 paperbacks over a 3 year period a lucrative little side-line.

I buy e-books for my Kindle, when I return home books from Amazon and sometimes I order from Kinokuniya in Bangkok there doesn't seem to be much of a price difference from a brand new book ordered there and the second hand versions in CM on my last visit.

This above comments weren't me boasting about anything, just if I know about anything it's books. If I could choose to run any business here for fun it would be a bookshop but it would be virtual suicide.

Personally I think there is room for 2 or 3 used bookshops in town and I am surprised that they have all lasted so long.

I haven't checked out the refitted Gecko - I didn't even realize George G had left the country! If anything It has reKINDLEd [oh dear!] an interest to check them all out and see how they compare, I haven't done that in years.

[F4UCorsair]

Gecko was owned by 'American' George from San Francisco to where he has now returned.

Back Street and Lost Bookshop are owned by 'Irish George' from Eire.

Gecko was pretty good, but 'Irish' George's bookshops are the best in Southeast Asia and always outshone Gecko

That George was the one I was speaking of. Thanks dru2.

[F4UCorsair]

The first George that is!!

[Sparkles]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2016 at 10:16 AM, FolkGuitar said:

Please see me (and this thread) in two year's time. Set your calendar.

If he's still in business, I'll be happy to apologize to you and say that I was wrong. Otherwise, you may do so to me. Sound fair?

There are camera stores everywhere that still have huge stocks of unsold film cameras because they didn't diversify at the right time, clinging to the idea that 'there are still people who prefer film.' Time 'told' for them. Time will tell for the book business.

Interesting to see a report on SKY UK TV last night which said that book sales ,hard cover and paper back sales were up 7% over the past 12 months .In that time e book sales were down 3%.

 

The second hand book shops in CM are still in business and doing ok judging by the new stock being put on the shelves whenever I visit to top up..

 

So Folk Guitar while we had a 2 years "apology bet", and only one year has expired, your side of the discussion is looking a bit fragile

 

I also read a rather disturbing report(sorry I lost the link )that there appears to be looming a significant problem with young childrens eyesight due  to the inordinate amount of time they spend staring into a screen backgrounded with artificial light.Seems a tablet or phone has become a child minding tool.

 

I have quite few books.in English ,mostly novels ,whose covers are in poor condition but pages still intact.If anyone has any info where they can be donated please post

 

 

[FolkGuitar]

3 hours ago, Sparkles said:

Interesting to see a report on SKY UK TV last night which said that book sales ,hard cover and paper back sales were up 7% over the past 12 months .In that time e book sales were down 3%.

 

The second hand book shops in CM are still in business and doing ok judging by the new stock being put on the shelves whenever I visit to top up..

 

So Folk Guitar while we had a 2 years "apology bet", and only one year has expired, your side of the discussion is looking a bit fragile

 

 

I'm still confident. Give it the full two years. And make it world-wide coverage, not just the UK. The UK tends to hold on to tradition. LOL!  Have you seen the size of Gecko Books today? It's 1/4 the size of when UG owned it. There are certainly used book stores still in business, more so in areas frequented by backpack travelers, such as Chiang Mai. But the used book business in general is looking rather bleak. Remember, we see only a small microcosm of affairs here, rather like the 6 blind men and the elephant. Come back in another year, and lets see how it looks then. 

[Peterw42]

I read somewhere that Bill Gates has one of the biggest private libraries in the world and collects antique books

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/5/2016 at 3:57 AM, FolkGuitar said:

No need for me to tell them. Borders can tell them, Bankrupt. Kinokuniya can tell them, Reorganized. Barns & Noble can tell them. Reorganized. Brentano's can tell them. Bankrupt. Walden Books can tell them. Bankrupt.

In 1991 there were eleven major chain-store booksellers in the US, with 3,293 outlets. By 2011, there were six retailers left with less then 2,200 outlets. One thousand retail bookseller outlets closed their doors. One thousand! And that's just in the US. In Japan, three major bookstore chains 'reorganized,' redistributing floor space to goods other than books.

Waterstones IS doing well. I guess the Brits just don't read enough to make e-books so important there...

Here in Chiang Mai, second-hand re-sellers are not planning expansions... Gecko, with its four retail outlets closed three of them and reduced the size of the fourth one dramatically and sold out. He got out while he still could. Some of the others... well... let's just watch and see.

I guess no one told that to the company paying Obama 65 million $ for 2 books.

 

 

[orchis]

I am delighted by the LostBookshop, they have an online catalog - as the other shops may well have - and I can send a friend or they ship when I'm in another province, they mostly have what I look for and they take them back at half price (cash not store credit) after I am done with the books, the owner is knowledgeable about books, Chiang Mai and life in South East Asia, a nice calm atmosphere there. I do not own a kindle. I also will have probably "disappeared within 2 years".

[Bill97]

I read somewhere that Bill Gates has one of the biggest private libraries in the world and collects antique books

So he is going to open a used bookstore in CM? Great.

[FolkGuitar]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I guess no one told that to the company paying Obama 65 million $ for 2 books.

 

No one suggested that reading were going out of style. Only that the 'medium' for books is evolving to keep up with the technological advances. 15 years ago there were 20+ used bookstores in Chiang Mai. Today there are about 6.

[JaseTheBass]

I am delighted by the LostBookshop, they have an online catalog - as the other shops may well have - and I can send a friend or they ship when I'm in another province, they mostly have what I look for and they take them back at half price (cash not store credit) after I am done with the books, the owner is knowledgeable about books, Chiang Mai and life in South East Asia, a nice calm atmosphere there. I do not own a kindle. I also will have probably "disappeared within 2 years".

Do you have a link for the online catalogue?

Sent from my Cray II supercomputer