Asia Books is the largest English language bookseller in Thailand. It also sells books and magazines in Thai. It opened in September 1969. The chain has 70 shops throughout Thailand under the Asia Books or Bookazine brand. It also distributes English books and magazines to over 300 outlets.
History
Asia Books opened its first shop in Bangkok in September 1969. The shop sold English-language books, and it became known for its titles about Thailand and Southeast Asia.The company says that its target customers include English-speaking Thais, expatriates who live in Thailand, and tourists.
In 2006, the investment firm Actis bought Distri-Thai, the operator of the Bookazine chain and the main competitor of Asia Books. At that time, Asia Books was owned by the Thailand Equity Fund, and Lombard Investments sent Surasak Khaoroptham to lead the company as chairman and acting CEO. The two companies merged in 2007, and the combined business held about 60 percent of the English-language book retail market in Thailand with 65 shops.
Asia Books Flagship Store at CentralWorld, Bangkok
In July 2011, Berli Jucker Public Company Limited (BJC) bought 100 percent of Asia Books from Actis and the Thailand Equity Fund. Since then, Asia Books has been part of the BJC Group, which also owns Big C Supercenter. By late 2011, the chain had 70 branches, and it was preparing to open its largest store at CentralWorld. In 2026, Asia Books prepared to open the first Tsutaya Bookstore in Thailand. The store was scheduled to open at One Bangkok on 20 October 2026.
Online bookstores
Asia books offers a broad range of products and services. These include English and Thai books, available both in print and digital form, subscriptions to English-language magazines, gifts items and lifestyles product through Asia books official website.
