The 50th National Book Fair and the 20th Bangkok International Book Fair were held at the Bang Sue Grand Station from Mar. 26 to Apr. 6. As part of the book fair, the Cultural Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Thailand hosted an event titled "Taiwan-Thailand Picture Book Exchange 2022: TTpicbook 2022."
Taiwanese children's picture books that previously won the Golden Tripod Awards were exhibited throughout the book fair. Four Thai and Taiwanese painters were invited to jointly create picture books for children and shared their creative process with readers through a live stream video.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Taipei Economic Cultural Office in Thailand Deputy Representative Hsu Wei-ming (徐蔚民) stated that Taiwanese children's picture books cover a wide range of topics and the event aims to provide Thai readers with an opportunity to experience original Taiwanese works.
Thai painter Cheewan Wisasa and Taiwanese painter Lee Ru-Quing (李如青) collaborated to produce a picture book titled "One Happy Day/ The Journey of Lin Wang (快樂的一天/大兵林旺的旅程)," while Thai painter Preeda Punyachand partnered with Taiwanese painter Yan Kai-xin (嚴凱信) to co-create "I'm Going Out For A While / Meeting Friends (赴約/我出去一下)."
"One Happy Day/ The Journey of Lin Wang" tells the story of Lin Wang, a fabled elephant of Taiwanese history, who traveled to Thailand and spent a day with Cheewan's character, Mr. Shadow. "I'm Going Out For A While / Meeting Friends" sees the two protagonists set out from their respective hometowns, showing the uniqueness of their hometowns during their journey before the two characters finally meet at the end for cultural exchange, portraying the uniqueness of their hometowns and characters.