Hello out there TPN readers, It’s Adam Judd here, the Co-owner, Co-founder, and Chief of Content for The Pattaya News and TPN Media and I wanted to take a moment to inform you of some exciting additions to The Pattaya News coming in the next few weeks.
Keen eyed readers will already have noticed a few changes over the past few weeks, some of it content related, some of it website related, some of it social media related. We are always looking to improve and have recently increased our staff, which in the end provides our readers with what they say they want the most…more content, more videos, and more news and especially more coverage of news YOU personally care for.
As a city based on tourism for about 90 percent of its economy, our readers are incredibly diverse as opposed to many other local papers in other markets and we have people from a variety of different cultures, ages, backgrounds, countries, and who speak multiple languages.
We also have a unique mix of readers of local and Bangkok residents, both Thai and foreigners, and tourists from all around the world.
What these two very different groups want to see covered and what is important to them are often polar opposites but we feel we have overall done a good job on this as we grew into the number one digital newspaper for our market in less than five years.
However, we also have listened to your feedback and we know we always have room to improve.
So as a result we are implementing several new and exciting platforms and options for readers to view our news and for local businesses to reach tourists and local residents.
It’s important to note before I get into the new things coming that nothing is changing in terms of our current platforms and focus. If you love our newsletter, read us on the website or RSS feeds, prefer to watch us on TikTok or Youtube, mostly just follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, etc …none of that is changing. Our commitment to reaching our readers and viewers on every major platform remains the same, in fact, as we grow you will see even more content on these platforms.
As stated, we understand we have an incredibly diverse demographic of readers, age ranges, backgrounds, and nationalities so as a result we have a commitment to be on every platform used by them.
But that brings me to the new additions.
We haven’t been able to meet the needs of all of our readers, especially some of our young at heart expats who enjoy reading a traditional paper or who dislike social media, the website, video news, etc. We have heard this feedback often over the years but due to a variety of factors were always against a print paper.
What we will be bringing in the very near future as a compromise between the idea of a traditional print paper and the digital age is a world-class EPaper, delivered on a regular basis, and allowing not just a traditional newspaper experience online but also providing links and interactive material, such as links to our videos, further articles, photo galleries, and our sponsors/advertisers without having any intrusive popup advertising.
Best of all, it will be free to read.
This ePaper won’t have every single article we publish on our other platforms but will be curated carefully with both tourists and expats in mind to deliver the news most important to them as well as to allow exciting local tourist attractions, restaurants, and other businesses to have a platform to reach those interested in learning of great new places to visit and try in our market.
This brings me to another exciting new addition, an upcoming business directory.
We have had many business advertisers tell us they wanted to see better features and advantages on our platforms for real local businesses to reach our massive audience. At the same time, we don’t want to overwhelm our platforms with non-native advertising or social media feeds with flyers and promos which frustrate readers or viewers who just want the news and not ads. The ePaper will provide a solid base for businesses to reach our readers in a native format without interfering with content and news but we also are building an exciting business directory.
Local residents are always asking online where they can find a good plumber, electrician, lawn care service, etc. You name it, online groups are full of these questions every day. As a result, we are building a business directory that will provide a variety of listings of local businesses in our market and allow people to recommend and highlight their favorites. This will also allow businesses an opportunity to reach their potential customers and we will provide them with a variety of both free and paid options to do so.
Finally, we often hear people want to know what events are happening in Pattaya. Yes, we publish articles before and after all major events and we list many on our Facebook events section but these are missed by some of our readers, often because they may follow us on one platform but not another. We also hear from event organisers on a regular basis that they want a clear and concise way to reach potential attendees for their events.
As a result, we are putting together an events directory on the website which will allow organisers to submit and post upcoming events, again with a variety of options and plans. We will of course still continue to provide videos, articles, and social media coverage of events as well as highlight them in the new EPaper but this section will provide a clear one-stop-shop for folks to peruse upcoming events.
If you are a business and would like to be in our soon to be launching ePaper, or our directories, give us a call, number on the flyer below, or email us at sales@thepattayanews.com.
We are always open and welcome to feedback and excited about the future and the new additions to our offers and platforms. As stated, for those who just prefer to read the website, Facebook, TikTok, etc. Those options will still be there, if not filled with even more content. We just want to be able to meet the needs of all our readers and local businesses and feel these options allow us to do that.
We will let you know when these exciting new additions are launched, currently aimed for the next several weeks.
Have a great weekend and stay safe and thank you so much for your support.
Adam Judd
October 19th, 2023.
