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Phangan Explorer – An advertisement Magazine about Koh Phangan Island


Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine

It was just a question of time and everybody knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Someone only needed to discover the gap in the market here on Koh Phangan Paradise Island and then just do it 😉

So … the 3.rd edition of the first Island Magazine just came out this month in February 2005 and it is called ‘Phangan Explorer – all you need to know about Koh Phangan’. The main goal of the crew around Charlie C. Solares is to provide relevant information to travelers coming to Koh Phangan Island.

Though it may sound unbelievable to you but a ‘Colonic Therapy’ is indeed a very relevant information for all travelers coming to Koh Phangan, isn’t it? So don’t hesitate a second and flush your ass at least once here on this lovely island 😉 Detailed pro & contra can be found in the last 2 editions of the Island magazine!

But I have to admit the content of the magazine improved quite a bit since the last 3 editions. In December they were still recommending you to take a cool and refreshing bath at Laem Son Lake on the west coast of Koh Phangan. But at least 10 people have died in that zinc mining lake in the last 10 years and therefore also Phangan Explorer updated the facts. It’s recommended that you don’t go swimming or diving in this old mining lake – GREAT!

What is a bit boring is the same repeating content in the Phangan Explorer Island Magazine every single month. Healthy Living – Detox or Retox? Ayurvedic Yoga Massage! Land Title Deeds – getting the right papers! Island Living – Buying Real Estate on Koh Phangan! And so on … the same again and again …

But you have to keep in mind that the magazine is not written for the islands long term patients, like Becki, so there’s something new in it every month for the average traveler who comes and stays for 2-3 weeks.

Be assured we are working hard to improve! How? By providing information that is important for those travelers looking to explore. For this reason we are actively exploring the island ourselves and describing it many hidden jewels. So … where are the hidden jewels?? Where are the awful facts?

Please tell us about the ‘Taxi Mafia’ here on Koh Phangan Island and the night fare prices 😉 Tell us about the story of renting a motorbike and the sometimes awful consequences! Tell us where to find the best ganja on the island for the best price! Tell us about some good real parties and the best ecstasy available at the moment 😉 Tell us about the road conditions and that most of the Thai people here don’t know anything about road signs! Tell us what happens if you have an accident with a Thai and the nasty deals with the local police. Tell us about the golden rule that the tourist always has to pay … no matter what! Tell us about the road accidents and the number of dead people every month! Tell us about the land behind the smile 😉

Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine
Phangan Explorer Magazine

Well … sounds fascinating but if you’re doing a commercial project then you better start hiding the truth and tell everybody how wonderful and beautiful everything is here on an island called Koh Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand 😉

But no worries … the good and the bad things can be found everywhere on this planet. But we need to focus on those bad things first to finally transform them into something good, isn’t it? Otherwise the shit will definitely hit the fan – I promise 🙂

Recently I also got contacted by one of my customers and friends Fiona who runs the Mai Pen Rai Bungalows at Thansadet beach. She complained that Phangan Explorer had used some of the pictures from her website http://thansadet.com

Without even asking her or put some credits back to her website ;-( The picture was also used for an advert for Palita Lodge which actually is situated at Haadrin Beach and not in Thansadet! So come on guys … didn’t you say that you’re actively exploring the island by yourselves to find the hidden jewels?? Don’t just copy and paste the data from some other websites, modify it a bit with Adobe and write your name on top of it! That’s not very nice, don’t you know that 😉 Show some respect, please!

But in our times of ‘maximize your profits!’ and ‘get rich no matter what’ it’s hard to produce something unique with quality and style. Becki did some tiny calculations with the last February edition and I assume that there’s an income by advertisements around 350.000 Baht each month. Costs for magazine printing could be around 15 Baht per copy and would make around 150.000 Baht for 10.000 copies. So this gives you around 100.000 – 200.000 Baht each month to produce a nice Phangan Explorer Island Magazine. Keep up the good work 😉

Another thing is called market penetration and means that all the others are not sleeping at all! The second Island Magazine is coming out soon beginning of March 2005. The publisher is called Phangan.info and offers cheaper prices for advertisements in their magazine which is published every 3 months.

Another competitor comes from the local Thai market and is also planning to publish another Island Magazine sooner or later. They are called Phanganweb.com

So there must be quite some money to make as more and more Island Magazines seems to pop up like magic mushrooms 😉

Oh … and before I forget! The website of Phangan Explorer can be found here. If you need more detailed information about Phangan Explorer advertisement please feel free to call 07-1428937 and ask for Pafi 😉

Happy advertising 😉

26 thoughts on “Phangan Explorer – An advertisement Magazine about Koh Phangan Island

  • Anonymous

    Well I think if phangan.info do publish a island magazine it would be ful of ****, after all they are the original creators of the idea that the Lake at Laem Son is something of an attraction

    Not to mention that Aow Chaophao is always beach of the month and the Village green restaurant is always restaurant of the month

    If you stay on Koh Phangan you may have come to the conclusion that phangan.info is just another website front to the cowboys at KP Property. They share the same office and have large links and even the kp property database on the phangan.info website. Also the Village green and Aow Chaophao is where Kp property come from so hence the blatant bias towards that area on the website.

    It all makes sense now why KP Property have not been advertising in Phangan Explorer beacuse thay are waiting for phangan.info’s magazine or really just their magazine. It will be interesting to see how much coverage KP property get in this new magazine.

    As for the one by phanganweb.com or who ever they are I suspect with will be a thai affair with garish colors and amusing grammer mistakes.

    I share Becki’s nag that Phangan Explorer have repeated a lot of stuff but I’ve got to hand it to them for being the first and setting the standard, it is a professional job for sure.

    All that said the only true place to get original and interesting information about Phangan is this great site Kohphangannes.org, I have crawled the web for phangan sites and this one wipes the competition clean

    So when is kohphangannews.org going to release their first island gazette, that’s the question, and swallow up the growing advertising budget of the business on this beautiful island?

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      well done for working out a link between affiliated companies….
      what you name.. Sherlock Homes?

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    As a resident in Koh Phangan I must say that the Explorer is too expensive to put an add in and that the info is mostly about Haad Rin. Further more to make a definition on a Pub or a good Beer Bar schould be overlooked. You do not need a TV in a Bar….

    Reply
    • phanganisland

      Why whats wrong with this definition ?
      ‘A good pub has atmosphere. It is clean, comfortable and has decent toilets. It is a place where you can order a good quality meal at a reasonable price, watch international sporting events … or a place where you can just hang out with your friends or partners’
      I’ mean if you have a different taste .. thats fine for you, but PE tries to cater for the mainstream taste.

      Reply
    • phanganisland

      Why whats wrong with this definition ?
      A good pub has atmosphere. It is clean, comfortable and has decent toilets. It is a place where you can order a good quality meal at a reasonable price, watch international sporting events … or a place where you can just hang out with your friends or partners
      I’ mean if you have a different taste .. thats fine for you, but PE tries to cater for the mainstream taste.

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    If Kp Properties is the same as Phanganproperties.com then they already put out an ad in the December 2004 Magz.
    Laem Son is #2 on their list of “things to do in phangan”.

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      phangan.info not phanganproperties.com, you should read a little closer

      Reply
      • Anonymous

        yes phanganproperties.com would be not that dumb … like our english cowboys

        Reply
    • Anonymous

      Phangan.info is not the same as KP Property… for those you who wish to slag off people on the island that just happen to have moved into the same office and who work solely for the benefit of the Island ….

      Good luck to all magazines and all advertising people and everyone who is lilving on the island ….

      other than you idiots who have nothing better to do that slag people off .. go to Samui

      Reply
      • phanganisland

        Hi, I think everybody has to calm down a bit. Healthy competion is at the end just improving quality. And on Samui ther seems to be enough space for several magazines, so I guess for KPG two printed magzines are not too much.

        Reply
  • Anonymous

    I have read the site and the comments about the Phangan Explorer. I have taken notes and am interested in what people have to say. I listen to opinions on the Phangan Explorer all the time. Some of the opinions are very helpful.

    I am not going to defend what we do nor the reasons for doing so. But as someone pointed out this is a tourist guide not a community magazine. If someone is interested in starting the latter give me a call and I would be willing to offer suggestions.

    As for the disrespect to any person for using any pictures off the Internet I do apologize this is not our intension. “We are actively trying to improve. How?” By sacking the lazy designer who used those pics in the first place. If you believe those pictures were yours please send me an email so we can make amends.

    I also would like to personally put an offer out to those interested in writing an article for Phangan Explorer. Please send it to articles@phanganexplorer.com and it will be considered. This way all the interesting things that are written anonymously on the web (taxi mafia, ganja, etc.) can be written in print (include your name and feel free to send in a picture of yourself).

    Finally for the chap who was doing the math on the Phangan Explorer the profits are not quite that good, the work is tough and the hours long. With that in mind we are still looking for ways to lower the cost of the advertising.

    However, if you have done your homework you know that our advertising is in line with other guides around Thailand. How others can do a similar guide at a lower price is what I am working out myself. I guess we’ll just to have to wait and see.

    Thanks Beckman for the space.

    Sincerely,

    Charlie C. Solares
    Phangan Explorer Editor

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      ***** OFF !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      This goes personaly to Charly Solares!

      Hola Amigo! Here is Lisa, I dont know if you remember me…I was the girl which painted together with Julian Vogel in you gallery-garden 2 years ago. You know Julian did the Graffiti-Buddha. Well i was writing you to you old e-mail, but it came back. So i only found this possibilty to write you a short note – that i am in Thailand, and would love to give you a visit.
      I guess there has been many thing going on in all our lives …..it would be a pleasure to me to do some exchanging 🙂
      If you wanna write me do this to :

      lisaghio@gmx.de
      or for chatting
      ghiolisa@hotmail.com

      I would be very glad to read some lines from you. Hope you are fine and healthy, hope the art, design and the explorer are doing well.

      Greatings from Bangkok,
      Lisa Ghio

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    We have been following the Explorer story and feel that a comment is now necessary. What Becki started as a healthy and interesting news piece on long awaited Island Guide Books could develop into some kind of immature online slagging match, mainly through the actions of “Anonymous on Feb 11, 2005 – 05:16 PM”.

    There is no rivalry between the Explorer team and the Phangan.info team, its just healthy competition in a developing market – the magazine business here is just starting and there is plenty of room for two or three magazines. We are all friends and have no wish for people to assume that we are rivals (see you next week for a beer Charlie). We aim to offer a different style of book than the explorer, as the island obviously does not require too much of the same thing and part of its trademark is the individuality of Koh Phangan. Perhaps wait until our book is published before making impossible comparisons? So far we have been very impressed with the development of the Explorer Book and consider it setting the benchmark for quality press on Koh Phangan.

    Assuming that Phangan.Info are the “original creators of the idea that the Lake at Laem Son is something of an attraction” is amusing considering that the lake has been popular with Thais and Farang for over 20 years and had appeared in numerous guide books before Phangan.Info started 3 years ago. It is also the primary government approved water source for the area with no complaints from users. Since the recent tragic incident, we display warnings in all our publications.

    As for the deduction that the Village Green, KP and Phangan.info are affiliated; yes they are, my brother owns the Village Green and Phangan.Info shares a database with KP Property as we handle their on-line promotion and share office premises, KP Property are the main sponsors of the Phangan.Info book, thus do not need to advertise elsewhere; however KP do not have any business involvement with the publication.

    Phangan.Info apologises for not updating the restaurant of the month and the beach of the month – we are now changing those titles to “Featured Restaurant” and “Featured Beach” so we can continue to promote my brothers business  When the site was created we aimed to provide news articles and change content monthly. However, as Becki did such a great job with kohphangannews.org our site became static and this is one area on Phangan.Info that still requires updating.

    So please, let’s not continue with the unfounded and unnecessary comments, they only cause the writer to appear as an ill-informed stone-thrower with a grudge and serve to create unnecessary tensions in an otherwise tranquil paradise. Chill out, everyone else is!

    Cheers

    Tom Green
    Phangan.Info Editor

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      nice one Tom
      luv to family
      BOB

      Reply
  • phanganisland

    Hello … I’m the Webmaster of PhanganExplorer.com. Your article speed up the the creation of PE’s webpage content 😉 … sorry that it took us so long. … and regarding to your suggestion for new articles … why don’t use the ‘Add Story’ link displayed on every page.

    Reply
  • phanganisland

    I’m really interested how KP’s Mag will lokk like … a printed copy of phangan.info and KP’s website … or something really new

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      Ive just been to visit both websites so new content would be great as it all seems a bit cold and boring, no drugs and rock and roll, or techno as it should be. How often will they publish it? when does it launch? How much is it to advertise lower than Phangan Explorer?

      I did see a link over to fullmoon.info or something like that so Im guessing the publication will mix that website into the content as well. Same same but different

      Reply
  • Anonymous

    I think that the Phangan Explorer is an outstanding mag for Phangan! It’s just the Thai way to copy other peoples stuff, good on ya! I personally enjoyed the Colonic Therapy stuff also, it was often the topic of discussion at A’s Coffee shop. Lets face it if the target audiance is tourists then you bound to get a lot of repetition.. By the way KP Properties you should be supporting as many local businesses as you can afford, so I hope to see you next month in the Explorer. Thanks Becki for keeping this site up and running and real…Hmmmmm ;~)

    Reply
  • Anonymous

    the competion is out:

    Phangan Magazin

    … this is the thai way of a magzine … unprofessional, goverment paid, copy-cat material of farang made Phangan Explorer … no respect at all

    Not only that 80% of the text content is in thai, the 20% left can be are hardly called ‘english’.

    The add space seems to be for free, since even the “I-tim” (icecream in thai) shop opposite the school in Bai Tai has a quarter page add. Big credit is given to local crooks (namely local politicians), but also only in thai, I would realy like to know how they explain most of their senseless megalomania projects.

    Have a laugh … look for “Phangan Magazin”

    Reply
    • Anonymous

      Thank… form comment my Phangan Magazine.

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      ขอบคุณ สำหรับ ข้อวิจารณ์ phangan Magazine
      เก็บสมองไปคิดอย่างอื่นดีกว่า อย่ามาว่าคนอื่น หรือ สมองเป็นแค่ เด็ก ปัญญาอ่อน ถ้าอยากรู้อะไรมา ถามเลยยินดีให้คำตอบ
      โปรดทราบ เรื่องราวในเกาะ พงัน คนไทย เท่านั้นมีสิทธิ เขียน ถ้าท่านไม่ใช่คนไทย การเขียนหัวข้อใด ในทางลบ โปรดรับผิดชอบ และ รีบ ขอโทษ คนเกาะพงัน ด้วย
      รักษ์พงัน

      Reply
    • Anonymous

      ทุกคนมีสิทธิ์ใช้สมองส่วนที่ดีแสดงความคิดเห็นที่เป็นประโยชน์ต่อสังคมส่วนรวมและการพัฒนาในทางที่ดีของเกาะพะงันและประเทศไทย สังคมส่วนใหญ่มีทั้งคนดีและคนไม่ดี แต่จะทำอย่างไรให้คนดีควบคุมคนไม่ดี ไม่ให้มีอำนาจ แล้วเกาะพะงันคงจะมีชื่อเสียงในทางที่ดีมากกว่านี้ คนเกาะเหมือนกัน รักพะงันเหมือนกัน

      Reply
  • Is that why Phangan explorer is extinct , magazine ran by a bunch of idiots and swindled people………………………

    Reply

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