"Living" in Thailand

I was recently able to secure a copy of Martha Stewart Living Thailand, the newest international publication to be released abroad by MSLO. It arrived this week and I thought I'd share with you some of the pages contained between its covers.
The issue I purchased is number 5, the March 2010 issue. The image on the cover is actually from a story on ice cream desserts from an earlier issue of the American version of the magazine, although it has never appeared on a cover before. The Thai magazine holds the same dimensions as the American version, the same glossy cover style and the same masthead. Naturally, the addition of Thai font reveals its origins.

Meet the editor-in-chief of Martha Stewart Living Thailand: Intukarn Gajaseni-Sirisant. (I wish I knew what she was touting in her letter!) The Thailand offices of the magazine host a staff of 31, all of whom are listed in the credits at the front of the magazine. There is a chairman, a vice president, a managing editor and various editorial staff members. The core executives of MSLO, including Martha, Gael Towey, Robin Marino, Eric Pike and Vanessa Holden are also listed. There is also a list at the bottom of this page of the international versions of Martha Stewart Living that are currently available: Poland and Korea.

The Thai language looks so beautiful in written form, quite a contrast from the hard lines and angular shapes of the written English word. There is a feature at the front of the magazine about Martha's recent travels to Bankok, a region now sadly devastated by deadly protests against the government. That's Martha with Kevin Sharkey in the photograph above.

There are numerous candid photographs of their trip to Thailand.

Throughout the magazine there are editorial features that focus on homekeeping, cooking, crafting, decorating and gardening, all of which have been seen in past issues of the U.S. version of Martha Stewart Living. It is not, however, a direct copy of any one issue; stories from various issues and various years are blended together to create a unique issue. The article shown above is about organizing drawers and closets. There is also a feature on Martha's craft room at Bedford, decorating with colour, a story on honey, sea-shell crafts and dyeing fabrics.

The issue is thick with pages, very few of which are advertisements. This is one advertisement for special Good Things Workshops held by the magazine staff in Thailand for new subscribers. I'd love to attend one of these...with my English/Thai dictionary in hand!