Thai Children Lag Among Asian Readers

[webfact]

EDUCATION

Thai children lag among Asian readers

PUANGCHOMPOO PRASERT

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Thai children read only two to five books per year, while those in Singapore and Vietnam read 50-60 books annually, a specialist from the Office of the Non-Formal and Information Education (ONIE) said yesterday.

Kulthorn Lerdsuriyakul, specialist in curriculum development at the ONIE, said Thai children must be encouraged to read more books, as reading influences people's education and economic status.

He said reading should be promoted among people with low education and living in poverty, as they are the largest group in the community. Reading should be included as part of their way of life.

Authorities should start by helping them understand how reading can influence their lives and careers.

Kulthorn and Worapan Lokitsataporn, president of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand, were speaking at a news conference of Book Expo Thailand 2012 at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre.

Worapan cited a National Statistical Office reading survey from May-June 2011 on 53,000 households. It found that 68.8 per cent of Thais aged from six years read books outside their studying and working time. The figure is higher than the record set in 2008 at 66.3 per cent.

Men have a higher proportion of readers, 69.3 per cent, while 68.3 per cent of women read. Each read for 35 minutes per day on average. Children and juveniles spent the longest time on reading - 40-41 minutes daily, while people of working age and the elderly people spent 31-32 minutes on reading a day.

Worapan said Bangkok had the most readers, 89.3 per cent, while the smallest number of readers were in the Northeast with 62.8 per cent.

Newspapers are the most popular among people who read outside their studying and working time; 63.4 per cent said they read newspapers. They were followed by textbooks, knowledge books or documents, fiction, cartoon books, books for leisure reading, magazines and textbooks - 32.4-36.6 per cent of the respondents chose them.

"New lifestyles in which people spend their time playing games or surfing the Internet will probably affect their reading time. They are likely to spend a shorter time on reading," Worapan said.

About 1,000 booths of publishers and booksellers will be available at the 17th Book Expo, the most exhibitors since the association began holding the event. About 5,000 book titles will be sold there. At least 1.5 million visitors are expected to join the event and a million books will be sold to generate revenue of Bt400 million.

The Book Expo Thailand 2012 will run from October 18-28 from 10am-9pm at Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. For more information visit www.pubat.or.th or www.facebook.com/BookThai.

-- The Nation 2012-10-03

[sirchai]

Worapan said Bangkok had the most readers, 89.3 per cent, while the smallest number of readers were in the Northeast with 62.8 per cent.

Didn't know that so many in Isaan read books. Are schoolbooks included? ----

[hanuman2543]

Was reading cartoons counted as reading books ? Actually seeing people reading books in Th is as rare as seeing snow in Th.

Sent from my GT-S5360 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Albacore]

The lack of reading, or books for that matter, was something I instantly noticed when I first came to Thailand. Early upon my arrival I also inquired about Thai literature and Thai novelists...only blank looks all around. As far as I can tell, the art of literature never really developed in Thailand.

[asiawatcher]

I recall some years back the Thaksin Govt saying Thailand had a literacy rate of 93%. I guess they only surveyed Bangkok. Probably also about 2,000 people by the specialist surveys they undertake. Keep the population illiterate and you can maintain control. Sad for the population at large.

[KireB]

Except for the 'how to get rich in 2 weeks' books, it's quite a challenge to find good books in Thai in the mainstream bookshops.

[pisico]

I, a foreigner, yesterday, had to explain to an ICU nurse, at a major hospital, who Borommaratchachonnani was. Typical. A future shock will be when citizens from the ASEAN community start flocking to Thailand and discover that this is a country that is not English spoken literate. Schools, teachers, paranoia, xenophobia and the system of hierarchies in Thailand are the culprits for the lack of language skills (or reading even in Thai) and continue with their archaic ways of making students into drones. Remove foreign investment and Thailand will become a country even more backwards. If flood preparedness is notorious for its absence during this and past administrations, we will have to wait, as usual, for yet another disaster to start relieving some of the ills that keep this country in the doldrums of its own failings. Symptomatic is Patani, which will become another torn war area before sensible solutions are pondered, let alone enacted.

[jshorts]

I would like to pass this article to some of my Thai friends.

Would anyone happen to know of a link in Thai?

[belg]

hey, we thai, we do not need to read, we follow soap operas every night for many hours, get all our "education" overthere

would be an explenation

[Thai at Heart]

It hardly helps that there are no compulsory books included in the curriculum. It is all about reading short passages passed out in photocopy form. Give kids a 100 page book to read every 2 weeks and right something about it, and amazingly, they end up reading.

I don't think my kids have come home with a book that they have to read as part of their normal school work.

[EarthAlien]

Are we surprised at this report?

Prepare for many more such as this as we move closer to 2015 and then beyond once we enter the ASEAN era.

"But teacher,... reading book mai sanook"

[thanchart]

The lack of reading, or books for that matter, was something I instantly noticed when I first came to Thailand. Early upon my arrival I also inquired about Thai literature and Thai novelists...only blank looks all around. As far as I can tell, the art of literature never really developed in Thailand.

Accessibility to cheap books would be a major roadblock. A good way to build the reading habit is to have free public libraries, where members can borrow a certain number of books for a period of 1-2 weeks before they are due to be return. It is not cheap to be an prolific reader and the poor cannot afford this. The concept of Free Public Libraries (one in every town) has worked extremely well in Singapore since > 40 years ago. All school kids and adults have easy access to good booksm irregardless of economic status, and even for the expensive references like encyclopedias, one can always read in the library itself since they cannot be borrowed out

[noitom]

On the extremely rare spotting of a Thai reading a book - it is a remarkable thing. I do see them browsing in a bookstore, but mostly they are standing there flipping pages in a comic style rag. They are younger Thais. It's impossible to spot an adult Thai with a book. Think about all the Thai apartments and houses you've been in. How often do you ever see a book much less a book case?

[chainarong]

I am surprised by this, one only has to see the difference in education between Singapore or Hong Kong to That's excellent high standards,how many air conditioners can be found in most schools, let alone books, so that students would like to come to school in the hot months.

[farang000999]

In Bangkok I see people reading real books on the skytrain all the time. But I am sure the statistic for outside Bangkok is very dreary.

[farang000999]

I am surprised by this, one only has to see the difference in education between Singapore or Hong Kong to That's excellent high standards,how many air conditioners can be found in most schools, let alone books, so that students would like to come to school in the hot months.

Those with the power don't want an educated populous. They want the underclass to remain stupid and manipulated.

[baboon]

I would like to pass this article to some of my Thai friends.

Would anyone happen to know of a link in Thai?

What percentage of them would bother to read it?

[Keesters]

It doesn't help much when in Pattaya:

1) Most don't know that there is a library.

2) Of those that know most couldn't tell you where it is.

3) It is located far outside the city and far off any public transport route.

4) The mobile libraries never seem to move from their parking spot.

5) On any occasion I've visited it there are almost no people there.

[uptheos]

Was reading cartoons counted as reading books ?

Good point because if it was, I'm sure The Thai's would be among the best.

[seminomadic]

Mai pen rai.... the tablet PCs will take care of all of that.

[seminomadic]

Mai pen rai.... reading mai sanook.

[seminomadic]

Mai pen rai...... nang seu paeng!!

[seminomadic]

Mai pen rai.... aan wela len Facebook godai!

[ThaiKiwi]

Quoted from www.childrenofthecode.org

According to the latest National Assessment of Adult Literacy report (NAAL), over 90 million (4 out of 10) U.S. adults are living lives socially and economically disadvantaged due to poor reading skills.

Edited October 3, 2012 by ThaiKiwi

[Morch]

[thirteenalpha]

I wonder if the complexity of the Thai script discourages learning to read.

[foolforlove]

As a teacher in a Thai public secondary school..... I have come to the conclusion that Thai students have actually not been taught to read (in any language) when they were in elementary school.

Of course, they can pronounce words and sentences.... BUT.... that is only one small part of reading.

The literacy skills that we take for granted from our home country's school system (and also taught at home) just don't exist.

The skills I refer to are things such as: imagining (thinking) about the characters/plot while we read, predicting and inferring about the story, connecting the plot/characters to aspects of our lives/selves, etc.

These skills all require "active reading" and reflecting on the content being read.

These skills don't exist.

If these skills existed in their native language, then it would be possible to leverage their use in a 2nd language (such as English).

If someone has these skills, the skills have been "caught", not "taught" by (almost) accident. Or they have gotten special tutoring or gone to an international school.

What I observe is that when Thai students "read", the words just wash over them but there is no connection with the text.

In this case, yes, reading is pure mechanical drudgery. I wouldn't do it either!

[TackyToo]

I am surprised by this, one only has to see the difference in education between Singapore or Hong Kong to That's excellent high standards,how many air conditioners can be found in most schools, let alone books, so that students would like to come to school in the hot months.

Those with the power don't want an educated populous. They want the underclass to remain stupid and manipulated.

Give em bread and games! It worked for 2000 years!

[DrTuner]

My kids do read. English books, that is.

I wonder if the complexity of the Thai script discourages learning to read.

That's what my older daughter complains about, although she reads and writes Thai very well. She reads books and stories in Internet in English instead (kids books, not Plato's Republic). Another complaint from her is that the Thai kids books are boring.

[Johnnie99]

I've seen them reading loads of books ... comic books are incredibly popular. Especially the ones which need no dialogue at all.