Nation Group (Thailand) Public Company Limited (NATION) () is one of Thailand's largest media companies. The company operates two digital television stations, three national newspapers (English, Thai business, and Thai mass circulation), a university, a book and cartoon unit, printing and logistics operations, and new media and digital platforms. Its symbol on the

Stock Exchange of Thailand The Stock Exchange of Thailand (, ; SET) has been the sole stock exchange operator in Thailand since its establishment on 30 April 1975. As of 8 April 2025, with a market capitalization of US$380.19 billion (excluding mai) at an exchange rate ...

(SET) is "NATION".

History

Nation Group was founded on 1 July 1971 by a group of Thai journalists with the launch of ''The Voice of the Nation'', an

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

newspaper. It was later renamed ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' with the motto "Thailand's Independent Newspaper". The company later expanded into Thai business

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

publishing and television media, both of which are number one in their respective news categories in Thailand. Nation Group is a founding member of

Asia News Network Asia News Network (ANN) is a news coalition of 24 news organisations from various Asian countries. Headquartered in Singapore, it was established in 1999 to form an alliance and enhance co-operation among the various news organisations and thei ...

, an alliance of 21 media in 19 Asian countries. In January 2018 the Nation Multimedia Group, in a hostile acquisition, was taken over by Sontiyan Chuenruetainaidhama, founder of conservative outlets T News and INN News.

Significant developments

* 1971: Nation Group founded to publish the country's first Thai-owned and managed English newspaper. * 1976: Business Review Co established to publish ''The Nation Review newspaper'', forerunner of ''

''. * 1987: '' Krungthep Turakij'' launched as a daily Thai-language business newspaper. * 1988: Company renamed "Nation Publishing Group Co Ltd" in preparation for listing on the

(SET). * 1990: License received to locally print and distribute ''The Asian Wall Street Journal'' and ''

Yomiuri Shimbun The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the ''Ma ...

''. * 1992: Nation Radio established and two new publications launched, ''Nation Weekender'' and ''Nation Junior''. * 1996: Company renamed "Nation Multimedia Group Public Company Limited". * 2000: Nation Channel, Thailand's first 24-hour news television station began broadcasts. * 2001: ''

Kom Chad Luek ''Kom Chad Luek'' (, , , ) is a mass-circulation Thai-language daily newspaper launched in 2001 and published in Bangkok, Thailand, by the Nation Group. Its circulation is in the 500,000–900,000 range. ''Kom Chad Luek'' closed down on 8 Apri ...

'' launched as a daily Thai-language mass-circulation newspaper. * 2002: Nation Books established to support rising demand in the

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, ...

industry. * 2005: WPS (Thailand) Co Ltd established to handle the printing business. * 2006: Kyodo Nation Printing Services Co Ltd launched to provide commercial printing services. * 2011: Nation U Co Ltd established to operate Nation University. * 2013: Licenses received to operate two digital television channels, "NOW 26" and " Nation TV". * 2019: Paper issues of the English-language daily ''The Nation'' will be discontinued, replaced by an online edition. The last paper copy will be the 28 June edition. * 2020: There was a

consumer activism A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or use purchased goods, products, or services primarily for personal, social, family, household and similar needs, who is not directly related to entrepreneurial or business activities. ...

campaign against sponsors of Nation Multimedia Group during the 2020 Thai protests due to the former's "pro-establishment bias". * 2022: Company renamed "Nation Group (Thailand) Public Company Limited"

Organization

The Nation Group operates eight business units: * Thai-language Business News Unit, Krungthep Media Company Limited (KTM) * General Thai News Business Unit, Kom Chad Luek Media Company Limited (KMM) * English News Business Unit, Nation News Network Company Limited (NNN) * Digital TV Business Unit :* Spring 26 Digital TV Channel: Spring 26 Company Limited :* Nation TV 22: Nation TV Company Limited (NTV) * Edutainment and International Business Business Unit, Nation International Edutainment PLC. * Printing Business Unit, WPS (Thailand) Company Limited (WPS) * Logistics Business Unit, NML Co., Ltd. * Education Business Unit, Nation U Co., Ltd.

Publications

The Nation Multimedia Group publishes the following: * '' Krungthep Thurakij'' (''Bangkok Business News''): A daily Thai-language business newspaper with circulation in the 80,000-100,000 range. This paper is also popular with Thai intellectuals. Its political stance is progressive. * ''

'' (''Sharp, Clear, Deep''): A mass-circulation, Thai-language daily, with circulation in the 500,000-600,000 range. It was launched in 2001. *''

'': An English-language daily with circulation in the 60,000-80,000 range. Maintains a progressive editorial line. * ''NJ Digital'': A youth-targeted multimedia English learning. * ''Nation Weekend'': A weekly Thai-language news magazine.

References

External links