I’ve never seen a Thai person reading a book

[JustAnotherHun]

2 minutes ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Actually bookshops, libraries and book sales are not thing of the past at all.

A look at selling statistics of paper and ebooks proves you're right.

I switched to ebooks as soon as they were available. I was tired of filling my bag with paperbacks whenever coming back to Thailand.

Now I don't have an ereader anymore. I use my ReMarkable. It's perfect.

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, JustAnotherHun said:

Now I don't have an ereader anymore. I use my ReMarkable. It's perfect.

The only thing remarkable about it is the $700 price tag and the number of 1* reviews.

Amazon don't even bother to say what formats it can display.

Edited January 3, 2022 by BritManToo

[ivor bigun]

my wife loves to read ,very rarely watches tv , she started with books that had been converted to Thai and as her English got better started to read them ,only Thai woman i know who has Jamie Oliver cookbooks .lol her favourite stories were Agatha Christie,

[JustAnotherHun]

32 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The only thing remarkable about it is the $700 price and the number of 1* reviews.

Amazon don't even bother to say what formats it can display.

There is a bit more about it.

Youl'll find nothing comparable if you want the feeling of writing with a pencil on paper. The handwriting recognition is far better than everything I saw on Windows, Android or iPadOS.

It reads .pdf and ePub.

 

Do you really believe in Amazon reviews? ????

https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/remarkable-2-review

Edited January 3, 2022 by JustAnotherHun

[CharlieH]

Flame post and responses removed.

[Callmeishmael]

There is (or was before Covid) a book fair at Q. Sirikit Center once or twice a year.  I went there a few times with my wife and it is always packed!

The subway was standing room only, both coming and leaving.

[guzzi850m2]

2 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

My wife reads absolutely loads of books.

So does mine.

[Broken Record]

1 hour ago, guzzi850m2 said:

So does mine.

I've never seen a Farang reading a classical book in a beer bar. 

[it is what it is]

 

OP your observation could be a result of the environment and individuals you associate with.

 

my thai friends are generally well educated (at universities in thailand and abroad), professional, many widely travelled and mostly read books in both thai and english.

 

many of my friends have children at school and university and they too read books in thai and english, often asking me to recommend books.

 

there is a wonderful thailand out there, just get out of the bar!

[Kinnock]

I think it's a fair observation that Thai people, in general, are not big readers.  We have some examples of exceptions in this thread, but I think this is far from the norm.

 

I commuted on the BTS for over 10 years, and never saw anyone reading a book.  I saw some people reading illustrated novels on tablets and phones, but never a book (or a newspaper).  When I used to take the London tube, I would also see someone reading a book.

 

I think the archaic, illogical Thai script with it's unnecessary, duplicated characters may make reading hard work?

 

Sub-titles on movies are also unpopular here.  When I watch a foreign language film, I prefer the original language plus English subtitles, so I can hear the original dialogue and intonation, but all my Thai frirnds prefer dubbed Thai voices, with that weird, forced low tone for the falang characters.

[freedomnow]

God what is this forum like...?

It's the 'put down the Thais at every turn' forum..then give them a big (no doubt) painted smile on their local routes from the usual suspects...

 

My g/f has a masters and was offered a junior professor role...

and your point is....?

[timendres]

Two (of twelve) of my employees were book readers. One of them finished one to two books each week, always had a book in his hand at lunch and dinner.

 

[Kinnock]

4 hours ago, robblok said:

Actually your quite right when i lived in Bangyai and went to the big mall i often went to B2S its full of books and plenty of Thais buying and reading books. So they probably don't read them where the OP is but it does show Thais read otherwise these companies would not be existing. 

A friend of mine was a non-exec director of Bookazine ..... he resigned as they are struggling and closing some outlets.

 

B2S is diversifying, they've started selling skateboards and office furniture to fill the space that used to sell books.

 

7-11 used to sell books and magazines, but not any more.  I don't think the malls popular with younger Thais, like Terminal 21, has any book shops?

 

Thais, in general, are just not into reading, and I think this reduces the demand for translations, which will reduce the availability of foreign books in Thai, compounding the issue.

[Fab5BKK]

I don't know the daily life outside Bangkok much.

 

However, here in Bangkok there are libraries and bookstores... lots of them... with lots of people, mostly Thai.

 

At home, my wife, my son and I do read. From Asterix to HBR through Novels, Political Books, etc.

 

However, it's very rare when we read outside.

[cdemundo]

Reading books in public is rare everywhere these days.

On my last flight to Asia a Taiwanese woman struck up a conversation with me because she was interested in the fact that I was reading a book and ended up giving me her contact info.

On the same trip an "air hostess" (or whatever the PC term is nowadays) started a conversation with me about me reading a book, what was the book etc. It ended up being an extended conversation.

Discussing this with my brother he said "Interesting that reading is so unusual that people initiated conversations with you cuz you were reading."

I said "you miss the main point, not People, women. women never start conversations with me."

 

[ohno]

 

[Jingthing]

Keeping it real, it's obvious to anyone paying attention that Thailand is NOT a big book reading culture. That doesn't mean that no Thais are readers.

 

How do they protest in Thailand? By reading in public - CSMonitor.com

 

 

[Joe Farang]

50 minutes ago, cdemundo said:

Reading books in public is rare everywhere these days.

On my last flight to Asia a Taiwanese woman struck up a conversation with me because she was interested in the fact that I was reading a book and ended up giving me her contact info.

On the same trip an "air hostess" (or whatever the PC term is nowadays) started a conversation with me about me reading a book, what was the book etc. It ended up being an extended conversation.

Discussing this with my brother he said "Interesting that reading is so unusual that people initiated conversations with you cuz you were reading."

I said "you miss the main point, not People, women. women never start conversations with me."

 

They weren't starting a conversation with you because of your books. They were asking for your recommendations on crayons for their kids.

[Jingthing]

Thais don't know the fun their missing.

 

 

[scubascuba3]

Using their phones there's a lot to read on social media, videos to watch, chat to friends, main reason it's died out.

 

When i used to commute to London i never liked carrying a book so i used to read a chapter then rip it out so the book got easier to carry

[cdemundo]

1 hour ago, Joe Farang said:

They weren't starting a conversation with you because of your books. They were asking for your recommendations on crayons for their kids.

Good one Joe, really hilarious.

I am in awe of your razor sharp wit.

Mxrxn.

[Colabamumbai]

Rare to see in public. 

[BritManToo]

8 hours ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

I had a Ploy--broke her too  ????

Im currently reading about the evils of drinking, so left me no choice but to give up.................reading

A girl named 'release me' probably isn't a keeper.

[flexomike]

10 hours ago, ohno said:

How do you know that they aren't reading a book on their iPad/phone/device?

 

Do you go walk round the whole coffee shop staring at people's screens and demanding to know why they aren't reading Western literature?

 

After all, it's not as if you'd be able to read anything in Thai ????

 

who said they have to be reading western literature, they do have Thai books

[HappyExpat57]

They're reading on their phones. It might not be great literature, but it's still reading. Print is dead.

[tonray]

11 hours ago, Dave Dave said:

It’s just an observation I thought I’d make after living here for 4 years

Since I use the Kindle app...you would have never seen me read a book either...and BTW whenever i go into a  bookstore and ask about English language versions....they smile and say Mai Mi...all the books are in Thai...so someone must be buying and reading them !

Edited January 4, 2022 by tonray

[grin]

Interesting, some people seem to think that reading a book on a smart device is not "reading a book". It's still a book, just a digital book and not a paper book.

 

Also one can use a Kindle app on a phone or tablet. Personally, my preference for digital reading is the the Kindle app on an iPad.

 

My local library in the US participates in overdrive.com. It allows you to check out digital books for free. It has had almost all of the books I've ever wanted to read and has even added two of the books that I suggested. While in Thailand it is my only source of books.

 

My wife is Thai and an avid reader. She did not get much of an education other than by reading. She went through all of the kids' textbooks from high school and college, except the math books. I remember helping my step daughter out with her calculus and linear algebra.

[1FinickyOne]

my wife used to gobble up books as fast as I could buy them for her... now, not so much so as many others, a shortened attention span... 

 

me too, books have trouble keeping me interested... 

[crouchpeter]

12 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

My wife reads absolutely loads of books.

So does mine. She buys them by the box full. Although I try to get her to read more English books. At least her Kindle has only English!

[stoneinfocus]

Always useful to make the effort to divide societies into 3: low, middle, and high. 

 

Thailand has markedly fewer middle level people than countries in the top 10 of the HDI, so the likelihood of seeing them read a book, especially outside of a major conurbation, is small, hence the fact that this thread exists. If you're poor, you've got other, more pressing, things to attend to. I suppose rich people read too, when they're not consuming, driving too fast and just generally being appalling. 

 

There's also the notion that the golden age of reading is behind us, brought about by fascinating screen-based tech' that compels us to look, click and swipe. I used to read loads, but since, say 2014, not so much. Looking back, that was when I got a phone good enough to read on. How ironic. Trouble was, it was also good at taking photos, and myriad other things, and soon I got sucked in like most others. 

 

I used to read before sleeping, but then it changed to listening to podcasts. I'm trying hard to reverse this, as I tend to sleep better with the phone off. 

 

Anyway, I used to see the odd person reading on the BTS. Mostly in Thai, but also in English, and probably in Chinese and Japanese too.