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Thailand a world leader in time spent ... reading ?!?


Jingthing

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How do they define reading?

File under -- department of questionable statistics?

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According to the NOP World Culture Score Index, readers in India are making the rest of us look bad. Don't squint! Here's a larger version, and here's the complete list:

Hours reading per week per person

1. India — 10 hours, 42 minutes
2. Thailand — 9:24

http://mentalfloss.com/article/55344/which-country-reads-most

Edited by Jingthing
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The statistics only gives the "time" reading, not the number of words or lines or books.

If someone needs 5 min to decypher a word, well that's 113 words per week.

It would be interesting to see the details of this statistic: What kind of people here are actually reading, their age, what they are reading, in what language etc.

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I read UN statistics that stated 20 million adult Thais never read a book. That in a year, the average Thai reads three books; Malaysian 60 books ; Vietnamese 70 books. The U.S. was in there at 40-something.

The bookstores in Vietnam were impressive. What I've seen Thais reading, usually has pictures.

The story goes Somchai Sr finds Somcha Jr in his room with a Playboy.

Senior: What do you think you're doing, son?

Junior: I'm only reading it for the pictures, dad.

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Definitely pertains to reading billboards. Thais don't read traffic signs. The Indians use a lot of verbiage to convey very little "so you must understand that what I am saying is that when they are saying something that they are using very many words just so that they are letting you know that it is necessary for you to..." etc so they have to read a lot. The Egyptians are reading the Koran over and over again. The Chinese are reading the instructions for the gadgets they buy.

Let the US lead the way, the only things they read are the brand name logos on their cars and appliances.

I'm curious about what the Czechs are reading.

NOBODY reads the health warnings on cigarette packages.

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Perhaps they are reading the subtitles on the telly and at the cinema?

I can understand the UK being well down the list. They're all glued to the idiot box in the corner of the room soaking up the propaganda.

I would have expected the Japanese to be well up the listings - very competitive education system there. Likewise modern-day China. And Korea, come to that.

I honestly don't understand Egypt and Czech Republic. I would have thought the Egyptians were too busy shooting each other, and the Czechs too busy drinking excellent beer.

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<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

I read UN statistics that stated 20 million adult Thais never read a book. That in a year, the average Thai reads three books; Malaysian 60 books ; Vietnamese 70 books. The U.S. was in there at 40-something.

The bookstores in Vietnam were impressive. What I've seen Thais reading, usually has pictures.

The story goes Somchai Sr finds Somcha Jr in his room with a Playboy.

Senior: What do you think you're doing, son?

Junior: I'm only reading it for the pictures, dad.

GW Bush described his wife as a reader. He made it sound like an affliction. Maybe that's what it seems like to him, like "why would anybody want to know all that stuff?" It was the first time I heard someone make that distinction.

Karl Rove said that in the last year of the 43 presidency W read 104 books. If there is any truth to that at all, I figure it was the weekly editions of Sports Illustrated and TV Guide.

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