The roll outs come as the newspaper industry is anticipating a 12 per cent rise in total adspend in 2003.
According to Nielsen Media Research, adspend in the first nine months of last year jumped 16 per cent year-on-year to eight billion baht (about US$187 million).
The market is at its most active since the 1997 economic crisis, and follows The Nation Multimedia Group's successful launch of the Thai-language daily Kom Chad Leuk more than a year ago.
Leading the charge of the new guns is Bangkok Post publisher Post Publishing, which will launch the Thai-language daily Post Today next month.
An English-language business weekly from Than Settakij and an entertainment tabloid published by Traffic Corner will join Post Today on the newsstands.
Launches for the yet-to-be-named publications are expected in March, when advertising spend usually kicks in for the year.
Than Settakij publishes Thailand's biggest-selling business newspaper, Than Settakij, while Traffic Corner is a major Thai media company that, until now, has specialised in television and radio.
Media agencies have generally welcomed the new entrants.
Wannee Ruttanaphon, managing director of media buyer Initiative Media, said: "I'm happy to see more players in the market, but it's not easy for a newspaper to grow from nothing. It takes time."
Wannee was cautiously optimistic about the outlook for this year. "If the economy continues to improve, ad spending will definitely grow," she said. "I think people are still quite hopeful."
Suthikiati Chirathivat, chairman of the Post Publishing executive committee, said the 50-page Post Today broadsheet would be aimed at "trendy" readers aged 20-40. A daily circulation target of 100,000 copies has been set.
Suthikiati, along with Post Publishing chairman Chavalit Thanachanan, said the company would spend 350 million baht (US$8 million) on the venture and hoped to break even in two to three years.
Suthikiati added: "The company's shareholders are committed to this project.
The advertising spending outlook remains good, driven by the economic recovery."
