Bangkok To Become World Book Capital In 2013

[anterian]

Bangkok is a major book PRINTER, many overseas publishing houses use Thai presses for cheapness of both labour and paper.

An interesting comparison between Thai and Farang attitudes to books may be seen by visiting Khaosan road area, there you will find many stalls and shops selling books, in many languages except Thai.

[harrry]

I think TV posters will have to get out more. No publc libraries in Thaland....Well in Chiang Rai there is one...in a mock train too to increase interest...Chiang Mai has one on the left side of HuaKau road just before the moat and a very nice subranch in a KadSuanKau which also serves coffee. I rember having seen one in Surathani and also know there was one in the Central Building the Red Shirts torched and am aware that that one opened a temporary section just after the fire.

I agree Thais shuld read more..the sme applies to kids in Australia however it is not true there are no facilities.

It would be better though if they were accessible to wheelchairs and sadly few of them are.

[DoctorG]

This is a joke..right??

I had the misfortune to teach in a BKK private high school. Reading was the last thing they were interested in. OK, the girls did sit on the floor looking at Korean movie and pop magazines

[Arkady]

555!

[exbelg]

yes, thailand will be the center of the world for the adult

colour book ... you can either chose the red or the yellow version

with all your favo characters

[dunkin2012]

Why don't they just promote the things they already have and are good at?

Um....... Can you give me a hint?

... I've had this discussion, seeking the informed views of those here locally and outside of Thailand ... the question was to cite examples of Thai exceptionalism.

... at the top of almost everyone's list, the overwhelming reply was Thai prostitution ... followed by Thai corruption ... distantly behind which followed a various mix including Thai rice, Thai silk, Thai Buddhism, Thai island resorts ... consider:

+ Thai prostitution -- the undisputed world champion, Thailand has arguably the world's most well-developed prostitution industry ... illegal, of course, and all courtesy of a proud Buddhist nation ... Thai prostitution #1

+ Thai corruption -- Assumption University Thailand (ABAC) polled in November 2010 that 76.1% of all Thais now accept official corruption ... corruption is now culturally and institutionally burned into the Thai DNA, and probably indelibly burned into the DNA of future generations of Thais ... these people vote, and they breed

+ Thai rice -- Thailand boasts an agrarian system rigged to benefit a minority of corrupt businessmen and government officials, at the expense of millions of poor and permanently illiterate Thai farmers and their families, living in near indentured servitude

+ Thai silk -- a marginal industry benefitting mere handfuls (incidentally, a craft saved decades ago from obsolescence by a farang named Jim Thompson)

+ Thai Buddhism -- a Korean Buddhist describes Thai Buddhism as a religion hijacked by the ruling elite, and long-used to pacify and subjugate the peasants

+ Thai island beach resorts -- going ... going ... gone ... increasingly characterized by trash-filled beaches, waters polluted with industrial and human waste, dead reefs, grossly over-developed resorts, decidedly agressive and unfriendly scam artists collaborating with corrupt police ... welcome to Thailand!

... Thailand is third-world dysfunctional, and I believe it's best chances to be a better nation, a better people, are now behind it ... excepting for the infrastructure, socially, politically, educationally, militarily, judicially, ethically, spiritually, you've got yourself Cambodia.

... the notion that Thailand is capable of excelling at anything as ambitious as intellectual pursuits is just laughable to anyone who has even a modest understanding of Thais, Thai culture and Thai cultural values.

Leave Thailand ? have you thought?

[Igor]

"...raise living standards for Thais through improving Thai people's ability to think."

You gotta laugh. Or cry.

[blazes]

The members of my Thai family were all paid up members of the Flat Earth Society until I bought a globe for the kids. I have never seen a globe in a Thai school. None of the family could point out the location of Thailand - or any of the neighbouring countries. None could identify the whereabouts of any province on a map of Thailand. Buddha forbid that they lift up their eyes and look around them.

Most Thai people seem to have difficulties reading maps. My gf in Chiang Mai (been living here for 20 years) looks for ages at a city map trying to work out where such and such a place is.

But hold on: National Geographic once did a "poll" of Americans' knowledge of the world, geographically. Showed people a blank map of the world, and asked them to pencil in where certain countries were.

About 33% of the respondents ("educated" Americans) put America where Brazil is.

[robsamui]

It's true, Thais don't read much. I also feel that culturally they feel there is something deviant about people who do read. Reminds me of an American comedian who was talking about when he was reading a book in some diner in some hick town there. The waitress asked ...

WHY are you reading?

(Not what are you reading?)

Hilarious.

:blink:

[blazes]

lets make a happy assumption - IF everyone in Thailand has an iPad, would it help to increase the popularity of reading ?

I guess will be more comic strips, cartoons and games around :-)

That is an interesting question. In Thailand it would likely increase comic-book reading on expensive iPads. It is the same with the computers in Thailand that are used for games by students. Solution? Fire all of the teachers and administrators and start over The ruling class, IMHO, does not want the Thai public reading anything that might make them THINK about new ideas and new ways of doing things.

Agreed. The ruling class of a country at the stage of development that Thailand is now in hardly needs an educated citizenry if it is to perpetuate its own corrupt position.

The situation is pretty hopeless. Has anyone seen the TV channels devoted to thorough brainwashing (round about 7 pm to 9 pm) every night? Those are channels that just could not stay in business in places like UK, Holland and Scandinavia.

[softgeorge]

It's true, Thais don't read much. I also feel that culturally they feel there is something deviant about people who do read. Reminds me of an American comedian who was talking about when he was reading a book in some diner in some hick town there. The waitress asked ...

WHY are you reading?

(Not what are you reading?)

Hilarious.

:blink:

My thai wife is the same. She will say "You have been sitting there for and hour reading that book" Why do farangs like to waste the day reading? I tell her it's like thais wasting the day watching soap operas and I get great pleasure out of reading. She is worried that our son will follow in my footsteps and want to read. To her as a thai it is wasting your life and reading should be for school and university and only.

[blazes]

It's true, Thais don't read much. I also feel that culturally they feel there is something deviant about people who do read. Reminds me of an American comedian who was talking about when he was reading a book in some diner in some hick town there. The waitress asked ...

I think the problem is, education in Thailand always has to be "useful". That is, leading to some kind of useless job qualification.

Obviously, reading a novel does not lead to being a manager at Toyota.

The nearest a Thai might come to reading a foreign book is a "translation" and abridgement of some famous novel, with numerous footnotes and explanations. This is good, but you can see the mentality: it is useful, and it doesn't matter what the deeper meaning of the book might be.

Slightly off topic but somehow related cos it reveals another aspect of the "deviant": how often do you see a Thai person walking along any road? (Ok, maybe in a designated sports park or something? But the concept of actually walking a mile to the 7/11 seems alien -- deviant)

Edited March 24, 2011 by blazes

[robsamui]

I think I've got this right - put me straight if not .....

Some fool of a govt spokesman, in a third world country where the majority of the population is illiterate, proudly informs the world that the capital city plans to become a world book capital?

BOOK capital?

(Maybe it's a mis-print and he meant to say BOOM - as in boom-boom ...? Now that would make some sense ...)

The sad thing is the twirp who spoke these lines probably believes it.

R

[arthurwait]

I wonder how many views on education on here are by bar stool experts who have to do Visa runs due to not having enough education to get a Visa.

[arthurwait]

My business analysis for my new business opening in Bangkok next year:

1. DO NOT open a book shop.

2. Have a cup of tea and compliment myself on my own brilliance.

Undercut Kinokunyia and Asia books prices and you could rather well. Then have a cup of mocha-choca-latte-capafrothycino in the coffee shop and compliment yourself on your own brilliance.

[GreenSnapper]

Wandering around the streets of Yangon, I was amazed to see the amount of book shops (albeit second hand - too expensive for the Burman).

Yes, even this dirt-poor country has many more educated people than comparatively rich Thailand.

Maybe only Cambodia can compete with the level of factual illiteracy we see in Thailand. I don't think any other Asian country comes near.

[dottie]

I think TV posters will have to get out more. No publc libraries in Thaland....Well in Chiang Rai there is one...in a mock train too to increase interest...Chiang Mai has one on the left side of HuaKau road just before the moat and a very nice subranch in a KadSuanKau which also serves coffee. I rember having seen one in Surathani and also know there was one in the Central Building the Red Shirts torched and am aware that that one opened a temporary section just after the fire.

I agree Thais shuld read more..the sme applies to kids in Australia however it is not true there are no facilities.

It would be better though if they were accessible to wheelchairs and sadly few of them are.

I used to be a librarian and I agree that it's sad that Thais don't read more (I am always so happy when I DO see a Thai reading a "proper" book, and not just for studying purposes!). In my experience, Indians read much more, with loads of English language bookstores and printers in Indian cities, so maybe that's why their English is better too. When I lived in Bangladesh, there were hardly any bookshops and I definitely noticed that Bangladeshis' English was not as good as, say, that of Calcuttans.

However, Harry's right, there is indeed at least one public library in Chiang Mai - alas, I have never been inside because it always seems to be closed when I walk by on a weekend, so longer opening hours would be a great start.

Also, in Bangkok, there are little "portacabins" set up at intervals along Charoenrad Road (between Rama 3 and Sathorn Road) which are little community libraries. One is always closed but the other seems to have a group of local ladies doing aerobics or having a chat outside it early in the morning and it seems to be open every day.

And, I even saw a mobile library van parked on the beachfront in Songhkla once. Clearly marked as such in English and Thai. I was so amazed. I couldn't see if it was open, otherwise I'd have taken a closer look. Never seen it since or anywhere else in Thailand.

[GreenSnapper]

Also, in Bangkok, there are little "portacabins" set up at intervals along Charoenrad Road (between Rama 3 and Sathorn Road) which are little community libraries. One is always closed but the other seems to have a group of local ladies doing aerobics or having a chat outside it early in the morning and it seems to be open every day.

And, I even saw a mobile library van parked on the beachfront in Songhkla once. Clearly marked as such in English and Thai. I was so amazed. I couldn't see if it was open, otherwise I'd have taken a closer look. Never seen it since or anywhere else in Thailand.

Lumpini park actually has a small library. And in Rajavithi Rd, not far from Victory, there is a new library. From my observation, though, both are heavily equipped with glorification of a certain family.

[dunkin2012]

Once , I visited Tamsart Uni.'s library for a research not a public one but the Gov.'s fund They asked me to pay 20 B entry fee. How did they come up with that freak idea? And the government 's keep moaning 'bout the illiteracy of its own people. Hum......................... The logic is wrong.......... Go back and rethink.... Thai gove.... Since the Cambodia and Viet are catchin' up ..... super speedy is needed....................

Edited March 24, 2011 by dunkin2012

[dukkha]

Also, in Bangkok, there are little "portacabins" set up at intervals along Charoenrad Road (between Rama 3 and Sathorn Road) which are little community libraries. One is always closed but the other seems to have a group of local ladies doing aerobics or having a chat outside it early in the morning and it seems to be open every day.

And, I even saw a mobile library van parked on the beachfront in Songhkla once. Clearly marked as such in English and Thai. I was so amazed. I couldn't see if it was open, otherwise I'd have taken a closer look. Never seen it since or anywhere else in Thailand.

Lumpini park actually has a small library. And in Rajavithi Rd, not far from Victory, there is a new library. From my observation, though, both are heavily equipped with glorification of a certain family.

I walked past that Library so many times, I was also a volunteer at Neilson Hayes Library in Suriwonf for several year....the average thai reads one A3 page a year...I may be wrong but remember that stat...

[dunkin2012]

New definition :

BKK = a place where many sex crazed and pedophile Farangs live...................

how 'bout that?

[JetsetBkk]

Update due to typo in original report:

Bangkok to Become World Bonk Capital in 2013

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration announced that it will promote Bangkok to become, what is being called, the World Bonk Capital in 2013.

The Deputy Governor of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration or BMA, Taya Teepsuwan said the office will promote Bangkok to become the World Bonk Capital in 2013.

The plan will promote bonking habits among residents...

[jaiyenyen]

Can you imagine a Thailand where most small towns have their own public library? The places would be empty of books within weeks. First you have to teach Thais the concept of borrowing, taking something and then bringing it back.

On a more serious note. I believe Thais to be quite creative, artistically. My students never cease to amaze me with the things they produce at school. I only have to say the magic words "I want you to create" , and off they go.

A public building in each town, maybe call it an "Arts Centre", which incorporated a small public library is the way to go, to encourage young people to read more?

[zzaa09]

Wandering around the streets of Yangon, I was amazed to see the amount of book shops (albeit second hand - too expensive for the Burman).

Yes, even this dirt-poor country has many more educated people than comparatively rich Thailand.

Maybe only Cambodia can compete with the level of factual illiteracy we see in Thailand. I don't think any other Asian country comes near.

Have you ever wondered why this phenomena exist?

[mrdome]

Doesn't reading fall under "thinking too much"?

Now if reading were more like shopping or sleeping! Why can't it be?

sorry, this former ex-private Uni in BKK teacher could not resist.

[hardy1943]

Comic books, I presume.

Is this April first already?

[softgeorge]

:jap:

It's true, Thais don't read much. I also feel that culturally they feel there is something deviant about people who do read. Reminds me of an American comedian who was talking about when he was reading a book in some diner in some hick town there. The waitress asked ...

WHY are you reading?

(Not what are you reading?)

Hilarious.

:blink:

My thai wife is the same. She will say "You have been sitting there for and hour reading that book" Why do farangs like to waste the day reading? I tell her it's like thais wasting the day watching soap operas and I get great pleasure out of reading. She is worried that our son will follow in my footsteps and want to read. To her as a thai it is wasting your life and reading should be for school and university and only.

Here it is direct from the man himself. Another dead hero...

Bill Hicks "What are you reading for?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvs2g5Nj0NI

:jap:

[ippyevie]

... how very amusing ... would you look at that, they are trying to read ... just like people do ... God bless their totally corrupt, incompetent little hearts.

... I am actually not so cynical, but I've been here over 10 years now and I have just had it with this inferior culture ... need to let off steam every once in awhile.

Inferior? Poorer maybe, less organised and critical, yes. But growing up from another culture with your own standard and references, doesn't make you a fair assessor, does it? Really, sorry to be such a cliche but why are you still here?

[CPT]

What about the availability of books? I see a lot of bookshops but they don't seem to have large sections dedicated to indigenous literature; mostly periodicals, Educational/Self Help books and the small paperbacks targeting younger people. Books that are available tend to be rather expensive and out of the financial reach of many. Libraries might help on that issue but there isn't a large body of Thai work and I don't know how available translated editions of foreign lit might be (or how well received). I suppose before or as part of promoting reading the gov't needs to promote the creation of reasonably priced works with mass market appeal. There doesn't seem to be much of a market yet but maybe that's a lack of product? or a lack of market hence no product?

[jimbeam1]

Any campaign to encourage reading is a good thing

Yes they should start with the Highway code.

jb1