Between 1884 and 1919 D.F. Macfie, Forest Manager of the Borneo Company, kept 'The Chiang Mai Record' in which he listed, year by year, the names and movements of European residents and visitors (except missionaries) in the north of Siam.
In the 1980s the American Consulate published a News Sheet, but this was discontinued by 1990 for legal reasons. Then, for a few months, an English language publication for tourists was available.
In 1992 three British expatriates, John Cadet, John Hobday and John Shaw MBE, decided to produce a monthly magazine for Thai and foreign residents and visitors who liked to read English. It was called 'The Chiang Mai Newsletter and Advertiser'. The first edition of 1500 copies appeared in March 1992, it was black and white with one additional colour and there were sixteen pages.
No staff were employed. The three Johns put the magazine together with cut, paste and one finger typing. It was then sent to Bangkok for printing. The finished product came back on a tour bus.
'The Newsletter', as it soon came to be called, grew steadily until after two years it had twenty-eight pages, more advertisers and better content.
In 1997 Pim Kemasingki, daughter of John Shaw, took over as editor. In 1998 Dean Henderson (then fiance, now husband, of Pim Kemasingki) took the publication online and within one year the web site, www.citylife-citylife.com became - and still remains - the highest hits English language site in the north of Thailand. In 2001 full colour pages were introduced and sales and production staff were employed. In July 2002 it was decided to rename the magazine since it had outgrown the concept of a newsletter. So was born Citylife.
CityNow! a fortnightly publication of 20,000 copies, in full colour with events and activities listings was successfully launched in early 2005. Citylife itself continues to grow and improve and is now unquestionably the magazine of choice for all those who reside in the north of Thailand who like to read English.
Today the company that owns Citylife, Trisila Company Limited, employs eighty-five
staff of whom eighty are Thai. Our web site has received well over 30 million visitors since its conception. Our aggregation department is providing financial news to the City of London, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and other Asian and European cities. Our design department is producing web sites, leaflets and other printed material for both local and international clients.
We also provide regular news on the north of Thailand to publications such as The Nation, Thailand Tatler, Air Tiger etc.
We continue to grow.
