A former UK regional news man is behind the launch of a Thai language version of popular business magazine BusinessWeek.

Andrew Batt, who used to work for the Wokingham Times, will take charge of the project for Bangkokstation Network.

His track record includes time as a sub-editor, deputy editor, sports editor, production editor and marketing manager at a number of newspapers and magazines during a 16-year career for Guardian Media Group, Haymarket Business Publishing and Cambria Magazine, the national magazine of Wales.

The BusinessWeek Thai language edition will be published monthly and will be available on news stands and via subscription.

Andrew Batt

Editorial content will consist of selected materials from BusinessWeek and BusinessWeek.com as well as local editorial material developed by Bangkokstation Network specifically for publication in BusinessWeek Thailand. The first issue is scheduled to launch in June.

Bangkokstation Network chief executive Kotaro Maru said: “There is a distinct lack of unbiased business news, and BusinessWeek Thailand will fill that gap with a mix of global stories and locally produced articles – in keeping with the high standards of journalism demanded by the readers of such an influential publication.”

Founded in 1929 and published by the McGraw-Hill Companies, BusinessWeek magazine is the market leader, with more than 4.7m readers each week in 140 countries. Local language editions include Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Bulgarian, Romanian, Turkish and Bahasa Indonesian.