On my first trips to Thailand starting back in 2004, I was in general impressed with the basic education level. Most of the girls I met could read and write and I know their basic addition and subtraction was pretty good. Here in the USA it is disturbing how poorly so many high schools kid are educated. I am a US baby boomer and grew up with pretty much above average public education. I went on to college and became an engineer. I have been to several countries. I don't equate knowledge with education. The fact that most Thais have little idea of how big America and why it has three time zones is not important. I don't know the names of the Thai provinces or Asian history too well. But I do read and I do use the internet to look things up anytime I have a question about a topic.

One thing I didn't see much of, is Thais sitting back and reading a book. Sure I see the young ladies read their Teen Beat and Heartthrob and Fashion magazines now and then. But does the average Thai person have the time or patience or desire to kick back and read? Are there a wide breadth of books available? Is reading encouraged? I don't expect them to want to know about geography or world political maps, but do they have access to information? Is there a Thai Wikipedia? Are websites in Thai available that deal with the Western or for that matter Asian world? Are western books available in Thai? What types of Thai books are available? Do they have authors or literary notables somewhat equivalent to Shakespear, Milton, Hemingway? I know the cultural differences make some comparisons difficult or impossible.

Not really specific to Pattaya so I will move this to the General Forum

There are some interesting observations in the OP.

I have noticed that when I want to know something my first action is to consult a book, or now in internet era Google for it. Many Thai people still rely on the oral tradition for learning and don't trust written information for instruction. Even a simple task such as cooking from a recipe somehow goes against the grain here. They prefer to ask someone rather that look it up. This is not because they can't read.

Even farmers using farm chemicals will not read the instructions but instead rely on what others say and give that more credence than the written information in the inserts.

Well if you want to see a Thai reading ,come to our house ,my wife never has her nose out of a book , usually the self help sort ,if not them then she loves John Grisham ,she even has the Jamie oliver cook books ,one thing she never reads are those stupid Thai novels ,she reckons they are for morons . i think living in the UK did something to her

Well if you want to see a Thai reading ,come to our house ,my wife never has her nose out of a book , usually the self help sort ,if not them then she loves John Grisham ,she even has the Jamie oliver cook books ,one thing she never reads are those stupid Thai novels ,she reckons they are for morons . i think living in the UK did something to her

My Thai partner loves to read as well, usually western best sellers that have been translated to Thai. The problem is finding these novels at reasonable prices. New they are up around the 300 baht and even used they seem to ask stupid prices. If only the Thai translated best sellers were available as a Kindle or Nook free download.

Kinokuniya Thailand's flagship store - Kinokuniya Siam Paragon stands at a massive 2,000 sq. m., providing an extensive collection of over 150,000 quality titles from all over the world, including Thai, English and Chinese publications.

Isetan, CentralWorld packs in over 900 sq.m. with a fine-tuned selection of Japanese, English and Thai books under the roof of Japanese oriented ambience. Browsing through the shelves of over 84,000 titles of book.

There are book stores in every mall in Thailand and people browsing books all the time.

Since there are bookstores in every mall and it they weren't making any money they would close the only conclusion to be drawn is lots of people in Thailand buy books.

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

Hours reading per week per person

1. India — 10 hours, 42 minutes
2. Thailand — 9:24
3. China — 8:00
4. Philippines — 7:36
5. Egypt — 7:30
6. Czech Republic — 7:24
7. Russia — 7:06
8. Sweden — 6:54
8. France — 6:54
10. Hungary — 6:48
10. Saudi Arabia — 6:48
12. Hong Kong — 6:42
13. Poland — 6:30
14. Venezuela — 6:24
15. South Africa — 6:18
15. Australia — 6:18
17. Indonesia — 6:00
18. Argentina — 5:54
18. Turkey — 5:54
20. Spain — 5:48
20. Canada — 5:48
22. Germany — 5:42
22. USA — 5:42
24. Italy — 5:36
25. Mexico — 5:30
26. U.K. — 5:18
27. Brazil — 5:12
28. Taiwan — 5:00
29. Japan — 4:06
30. Korea — 3:06

The times listed above are skewed. Anyone who has learnt to read Thai will tell you what a slow process it is. So I am not surprised they spend so much time reading.

There are some interesting observations in the OP.

I have noticed that when I want to know something my first action is to consult a book, or now in internet era Google for it. Many Thai people still rely on the oral tradition for learning and don't trust written information for instruction. Even a simple task such as cooking from a recipe somehow goes against the grain here. They prefer to ask someone rather that look it up. This is not because they can't read.

Even farmers using farm chemicals will not read the instructions but instead rely on what others say and give that more credence than the written information in the inserts.

I bought my Thai GF a cookery book as a present and I couldn't believe how offended she was. "I know how to cook everything". She's learned from mum and her grandmothers. She does read a fair bit: newspapers, gossip mags, cartoons & books too. A lot of the older generations in rural Thailand cannot read or write. They live and learn by life experience and there is no tradition of reading in many families. No bedtime stories from books.

There are some interesting observations in the OP.

I have noticed that when I want to know something my first action is to consult a book, or now in internet era Google for it. Many Thai people still rely on the oral tradition for learning and don't trust written information for instruction. Even a simple task such as cooking from a recipe somehow goes against the grain here. They prefer to ask someone rather that look it up. This is not because they can't read.

Even farmers using farm chemicals will not read the instructions but instead rely on what others say and give that more credence than the written information in the inserts.

I bought my Thai GF a cookery book as a present and I couldn't believe how offended she was. "I know how to cook everything". She's learned from mum and her grandmothers. She does read a fair bit: newspapers, gossip mags, cartoons & books too. A lot of the older generations in rural Thailand cannot read or write. They live and learn by life experience and there is no tradition of reading in many families. No bedtime stories from books.

Even top international chefs use cookbooks. Part of the pleasure of reading is learning things one didn't know before, or learning to cook something one couldn't cook previously. That's the point of it. It's part of being outward looking.

I read, i read road signs every day for 10/12 hours, i read the papers, what actually classes as reading.

The last lad I saw reading was marched off while reading George Orwell's "1984".

Would like to know what subject matter he's reading now.

If the OP goes along to any of the major book stores in Bangkok, or bookstores in the provinces, he'll find shelves of literature, both Thai and foreign translated to Thai.

He'll also find Thai people browsing and buying these books.

The OP is, I believe in Pattaya, a trip into B2S at the Central Mall will provide enough evidence of the above to answer his question.

Though I would caution, the Thai people reading and buying these books may not be as approachable as the Thai people who have provided the OP, and others, with evidence of a lack of intellectual curiosity or interest in reading.