The transaction
On 19 April 2024, The Thaiger announced its acquisition of ASEAN NOW’s digital assets from Choice Group Asia. The announcement described the move as a way to combine two established digital audiences interested in Thailand and the wider region.
Who appears in the interview
The accompanying video features Darren Lyons, chief executive of The Thaiger, and me as ASEAN NOW’s chief operating officer. It places the announcement in operational terms: a long-running forum and publishing platform was moving into a larger digital-media group.
Continuity for the community
The published report said ASEAN NOW’s staff and moderators would be retained. That detail mattered because the platform’s value was not only its technology or archive. Its daily operation depended on people with knowledge of the audience, publishing workflow and forum culture.
Infrastructure, content and multimedia
The Thaiger described plans to improve infrastructure, enrich content and expand multimedia. The strategic logic was complementary: ASEAN NOW brought a large community and deep discussion archive, while The Thaiger brought a news and video operation built for the contemporary publishing environment.
George Anderssen’s role
I had founded ThaiVisa in 2002, before its 2015 acquisition by Choice Group Asia and 2021 rebrand as ASEAN NOW. In 2024 I was back with the company as COO and worked on the transfer and transition. The interview therefore connects the platform’s origin with its new ownership chapter.
Why the date matters
The exact announcement date—19 April 2024—provides a reliable reference point in the ThaiVisa and ASEAN NOW chronology. It separates the formal acquisition from an earlier ASEAN NOW community post on 18 April and avoids treating the transition as an undated or gradual rebrand.
Watch the original interview on YouTube or read The Thaiger’s acquisition report. For the complete history, continue to The history of ThaiVisa.com.