Dokya

Dokya (Thai: ดอกหญ้า, pronounced [dɔ̀ːk.jâː]) is a Thai bookseller based in Bangkok. It was one of the largest bookstore chains in Thailand in the 1990s, but has sharply declined since.

Dokya was established as Samakkhisan (Dokya) Co., Ltd. in 1981,[1] and originally operated a single bookshop at Tha Phrachan, near Thammasat University. It was very successful, and established secondary branches, one of the first booksellers in the country to do so.[2] Dokya, which also operated as a publisher, rapidly grew into one of the largest bookstore chains in the country in the 1990s,[3] and went public in 1995.[1] It expanded into book imports, and also considered branching into film. In addition to its own branches, it established a franchise system, with over 60 franchisees.[3]

However, the business sharply declined afterwards, partly due to management issues that resulted in illiquidity causing Dokya to miss payments to publishers, damaging its credit.[3] Samakkhisan (Dokya) PCL was declared bankrupt in 2006 and liquidated,[1] though the business continued to operate under other entities. Most of Dokya's stores subsequently closed down, especially following political unrest in 2010 and major flooding in 2011, which cost it over 60 million baht (US$2M) in damages from which it was unable to recover.[4] Its Victory Monument store was destroyed by fire in riots during the 2010 Thai military crackdown,[5] and its popular Siam Square store closed down in 2017,[6] leaving the original Tha Phrachan store as its last self-operated branch (excluding franchisees) as of 2019.[7]

Dokya also operated overseas branches in the United States at Thai Town and Chinatown in Los Angeles, which closed down in 2021.[8][9]