Grisana Eimeamkamol wants to import a culture to Thailand.
In Melbourne, he spent his high school and college years perusing book stores, engaging in conversations about art and design and learning about movements and their history. He made zines — it isn't uncommon for students in graphic design to experiment in print media and self-publication.
He returned home two-and-a-half years ago. He interned, doing design work for various companies, from graphic to fashion. He travelled to New York. He revisited Melbourne. He talked to the couple that owned one of his favourite book stores, Perimeter Books, who had long been his mentors.
"They said, 'Imagine if there was a Perimeter Books in Thailand'. They said it wasn't hard. You order the books and you sell them and you figure out how to pay the rent."
Grisana talked to many people and conceived his project as a store and hangout spot, a place to breed appreciators of independent art books in a time when print media is increasingly moving online.
CEO Books sits in Sukhumvit 49 next to Casa Lapin, in an alley across from Samitivej Hospital. It is not easy to spot; there are no signs outside the shophouse and it looks more like a home. The gate is locked. There is a buzzer.
"At the end of 2013, I was thinking how hard it is to find people to talk to about print magazines, or even find them. You can perhaps find generic titles in book stores," Grisana says. "I wanted to create a space to draw people of the same interest. Or at least just introduce people my age and of the younger generation to the idea of self-publishing."
Gay magazines, including various editions of the revolutionary BUTT magazine are arranged on a platform on the floor. BUTT started in 2001, self-proclaimed as "The magazine for homos that doesn't suck". The issues were printed on pink paper, as if photocopied. Gert Jonkers and Jop van Bennekom, its founders called it the "fagazine", and have since moved on to various print projects including Fantastic Man and The Gentlewomen.
"Photographers like Wolfgang Tillmans, Jeurgen Teller and Ryan Mcginley all contributed to the contents. There are even ads by brands like Adidas that were created exclusively for the gay readers," says Grisana, flipping through a magazine to a page with bottle of Tom Ford perfume between spread butt cheeks instead of the typical cleavage shot, of which Tom Ford said: "I'm an equal opportunity objectifier."
Grisana isn't just interested in the finished products, but rather the process and stories behind their creations. He is only 23 and he understands the way young people have come to consume visual information. There is no posterity in online publishing, he claims.
"The books and magazines I acquire tell stories. I don't seek new titles. I want to dig through the archives of artists and publishers," he says. "For these magazines, moneymaking is not the main purpose and advertising is not central. It is an end in and of itself."
"Here, it may seem a luxury. But in Europe or elsewhere, it would be the cost of a regular meal or like paying to go see a movie," says Grisana. "You could perhaps say CEO Books is just a scheme and I really want all the books for myself. I am the prey of the magazines."
The discreet exterior of CEO Books.
CEO Books is more than a book store. Grisana has been working on organising events and holding book launches, featuring Thai artists. He has a collection of Thai publishing from artists from Kornkit Jianpinidnan who publishes photo essays annually, featuring work from Lolay, to Gallery Ver. He has more books and magazines stored in plastic containers with dehumidifiers.
Grisana admits he never expected much to come out of CEO Books. He even thought it would close within three months. He had no idea how to manage a business, but his business has somehow survived. In the next couple of months, when his lease ends, Grisana plans on expanding the scope of the project, opening a real book store, but one that retains the same concept he had since the beginning.
"I'm learning about the demographic. I'm learning and it's something I really like. For me, I'm sacrificing a year to see the potential. It's a small community but one that loves and supports each other." CEO Books has attracted a staple niche crowd, as well as art students who come by to talk to Grisana. He has become their mentors.
Grisana speaks of international publishers that were very excited to hear about the emergence of an interest in independent publishing in Southeast Asia, of publishers who readily shipped out-of-print editions from their stocks: "It's like a musician getting to tour the world."
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Grisana Eimeamkamol at his post.
