Print media such as newspapers and magazines are not being pushed aside due to the growing popularity of digital publishing, the Magazine Association of Thailand announced.

“The claim that consumers have gradually stopped reading magazines is a myth,” said Wiluck Lohtong, the association's secretary-general, who is also the CEO of Inspire Entertainment Co., at a seminar on the magazine industry's trends on Monday. He said the myth that young people do not read print media anymore is false.

Thanachai Theerapattanavong, the association's president, indicated that it was difficult for digital publishing to cannibalise ad spending from traditional printed publishing since the Internet penetration in Thailand was only 12.5 percent, way behind 68.2 percent in Hong Kong and 69.2 percent in North America.

"Audiences in countries that have high Internet penetration rates are likely to shift to reading online, but I do not think that it will happen in Thailand soon," he said.

However Theerapattanavong suggests that magazine and newspaper publishers should also have digital publishing, which maintains ad spending and offers readers brand new multimedia experiences.