Coupons to kids for books eyed

SUPINDA NA MAHACHAI

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Education Minister Suchart Thadathamrongvej yesterday floated the idea of giving children coupons to buy books that interested them.

He said he would consider if some of the ministry's budget could be allocated to produce and distribute coupons to students to shop for what they wanted, as the books donated or given by authorities might not be what they wanted.

He was speaking while Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn presided over the opening ceremony of the 10th Bangkok International Book Fair and 40th National Book Fair that runs until April 8 under the theme "Read for Life" at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.

Suchart said this was a good chance for students to look for good books because there were more than 400 publishing companies. Some of them also offered more and more e-books.

To promote a lifelong reading habit, Suchart said he would study the possibility of waiving import duties on foreign books.

The coupon details were left for further discussion.

The Princess praised the organisers and other parties for trying to nurture a lifelong learning society in Thailand and presenting various media for people's education and intellectual development, which would improve the quality of life while promoting awareness in society.

The event features an exhibition on the Princess's books, including her latest translation of a Chinese book into Thai, titled "Mooban Lek Trakul Pao" (Small Village of Pao Family).

Worapan Lokitsataporn, president of the Publishers and Book-sellers Association of Thailand, said the association has organised the 24th Thor Fan Pan Nangseu Hai Nong project to give Bt400 coupons to underprivileged children to buy books on April 14.

It has also joined with the Basic Education Commission to present Bt2 million to some 100 flood-hit schools to buy books for their libraries on April 30.

-- The Nation 2012-03-30

Well, the coupons for electrical goods given to flood victims worked soooo well. Why not try the same scam with kids books?

Kids these days are more interested in Angry Birds than on books. Get it?

will go down well if they can puchase cartoons

why coupons?

Why not issue them credit cards like the other programs?

.

Die anynody EVER see a thai kid ( or adult...) READING a book in public?....

They should give al kids a plane tickets to a country

that will actually educate them properly. Giving them

mickey mouse pads and cartoon books is not the

solution. Then again the people at the top do not want

the kids educated properly, this would cause them to lose power

and money when the kids realize how bad their families have

had the wool pulled over their eyes for decades

same same different day

"Worapan Lokitsataporn, president of the Publishers and Book-sellers Association of Thailand, said the association has organised the 24th Thor Fan Pan Nangseu Hai Nong project to give Bt400 coupons to underprivileged children to buy books on April 14. It has also joined with the Basic Education Commission to present Bt2 million to some 100 flood-hit schools to buy books for their libraries on April 30."

Any efforts to put books into children's hands has my support. Reading books to children starts a lifelong interest in learning. I would take part of my vacation to help either of these efforts and consider it an honor.

Pdf are down loaded for free.

When is the iPad coming?

Die anynody EVER see a thai kid ( or adult...) READING a book in public?....

Or anywhere?

Just out of curiosity and a little off topic , how many public libaries are there in Thailand . I have seen one in Mae Rim , Chiang Mai but are there any others outside of the universities. I would take my step kids there to encourage them into the habit of reading and seeking knowledge if there were. I buy them books but once read then they forget about them . I notice they will not even read the back of the cornflakes packet whilst eating like our generation did.

As a side note , I have also put their phones (and the computer ) into english menu (even if it is microsoft english ) so they get used to reading and understanding a second language but it pisses their father off so much he deletes everything on the phone out of spite ( he would not be able to turn the computer on to stuff that up. ) . So much for him encouraging learning.

There are private organizations who give away English books for FREE! One of them is "Books 4 Thailand" and they are located in Bangkok. If a school wants to fill their library with English books, this organization even pays for the trip to Bangkok to pick up the books.

Contact me if interested.

Thailand May Give Kids Book Coupons For Free

We'll be lucky if the kids read those coupons.