Poll Finds Thai Youngsters In Big Cities Like Watching Tv

[Jai Dee]

ABAC Poll finds Thai youngsters in big cities like watching TV more than reading

ABAC Poll finds that Thai children in big cities prefer watching television to reading books.

Poll director Noppadon Kannika (นพดล กรรณิกา) said that three other things youngsters like to do more than reading are listening to the radio, playing sports and talking on the telephone.

ABAC Poll recently surveyed young people on nine activities they like to do comparing to reading.

Mr. Noppadon said the survey found about half of the samples prefer reading to shopping at department stores, going to the theatre, playing musical instruments and playing online games.

Aside from their textbooks, young readers also read comic books, novels, traveling guides and documentaries. Only about 20%, however, read their textbooks everyday or almost everyday. The average time per day spent on reading textbooks is one hour and 37 minutes, he said.

Mr. Noppadon said children who spend more time with television, radio and telephone than books may have problems with their studies and schools. He said the government should help promote reading habit by opening more reading corners and upgrade public libraries.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 12 July 2006

[isaanbrit]

No, surely not???

[TokyoT]

Do ya think this disturbing trend is really isolated to only the big cities? Or would everyone else pretty much be in the same boat – assuming they have a TV?

[tourleadersi]

From my experience of Thai TV, the youth of today will be well set up for the future. Screaming, shouting, terrible acting and melodramatics will all be fundamental skills that will set them up well in life.

Needless to stay I was startled at such ground breaking discoveries! Wait any day now there will be the announcement about youth and binge drinking ie. they flippin love it.

[ando]

Unfortunately, a world wide trend.

More libraries wont do anything.

I dont have an answer.

[meadish_sweetball]

Peoples' attention spans are shortening with new communication technology.

If I wrote all I have to say on the subject here, most people who browse this topic wouldn't read it.

One way to go would be for the libraries to take in quality cartoons with lots of text - that way they would be able to attract the kids in the first place, and while there, try to steer their attention to more recommended reading.

Sheer availability of libraries won't do much to spark kids' reading interest.

[wolf5370]

Peoples' attention spans are short...er....turned out warm again hasn't it, I remember...er...no I don't...er...never mind

ALL kids prefer TV, video games and playing (sport or otherwise) than reading books. They always have and always will. The problem in LoS is that, unlike in the west, they don't seem to grow in to it when they get older. May be they should be forced to endure commuting into London via Network SouthEast Trains - either reading or staring at some fat blokes armpit for an hour or three.

[baboon]

From my experience of Thai TV, the youth of today will be well set up for the future. Screaming, shouting, terrible acting and melodramatics will all be fundamental skills that will set them up well in life.

Needless to stay I was startled at such ground breaking discoveries! Wait any day now there will be the announcement about youth and binge drinking ie. they flippin love it.

Kind of like blue movies but without the interesting bits,dont you think?

[penzman]

From my experience of Thai TV, the youth of today will be well set up for the future. Screaming, shouting, terrible acting and melodramatics will all be fundamental skills that will set them up well in life.

You left out handling firearms.

And where exactly are the parents in this? There seems to be a trend of always blaming the government for these problems. For too many, the idiot box is the answer to educating a child.

One of our employees came to our house this evening, crying, saying she had just realised that her son hasn't been attending school for a year now. She was babbling on about having to buy books, uniforms etc. all over again has they have vanished into thin air. " Didn't you notice school uniforms missing from the laundry for a whole year?

[Greer]

May be they should be forced to endure commuting into London via Network SouthEast Trains - either reading or staring at some fat blokes armpit for an hour or three.

...and that's IF the trains haven't broken down...God! It's like being in the Third World here, except that in the Third World the trains, buses, taxis etc all run, and are a reasonable price as well!

I am shocked by this revelation brought to us by the Department for Needlesly Wasting Money...

I wonder when they will work out that "Thai women like to watch really awful soapies on tv!"

They need to make libraries interesting, and distracting, exciting places...how the heck they do that - goodness knows. The only alternative is to actually make useful, informative, entertaining, and educational programmes for television in Thailand. Good documentaries and things made interesting by the presenters - British docos are some of the best examples.

The problem there will be that if they don't have a few very badly made up katoeys and some housewife screaming at her hi-so son who fell in love with the beautiful, but illegitimate, daughter of his second cousin, it just will not fly! Oh...and don't forget the cowering maids...and the father who never speaks, but is feared by all...

Thai television will have to do the job, as kids will simply not sit down at home or in a library to read - speaking from experience here, it's almost impossible to get my two school-age kids to read unless they HAVE to - but no problems when it comes to watching their favourite soap.

Mind you - having seen the garbage being dished up on much of the UK and Australian TV (Big Brother springs immediately to mind - not having seen the Thai version) I suppose I can't say that things on UK TV are all that advanced after all.

[qualtrough]

I would file those survey results under 'Bleedin' Obvious'

It is a problem though, not just here. We have two young daughters and about two years ago I found that they were emulating some of the behavior from the Thai soaps. Not very attractive behavior either. I literally cut the cord (unplugged it first) and there was no TV in this house for over a year. Kids adapted very quickly, Mom didn't, so I reinstalled the plug and we are back where we started. I do want them to get used to reading for enjoyment and if you don't catch that young you probably will never catch it. I do my best to limit TV viewing, but the wife sees nothing wrong with it at all. I am not against TV, I have watched all kinds of crap and even enjoy some, but I think some kind of balance needs to be maintained, at least when the kids are in their formative years.

[Scott]

I can't believe they needed a poll to find this out. What next a poll to determine if children like sweets?

The questions that need answering are how much television do they watch, when do they watch it and how, if at all, does it interfere with other things. There is more to life than doing homework, by the way. Then they need to look at the type of programming and what is relevant and least destructive for young people to watch.

The issue of reading is really quite separate. Reading has to be taught and children have to be encouraged to enjoy reading, this is done at school and by parents, who model a habit of reading--something you don't see a lot of.

It's balance in their lives that is needed.

[astral]

A sad endictment of society and education today.

Not new either.

Back in 1987 I was interviewing young Thai's for the company where I worked.

I would read their CV's looking for anything that made one stand out from the herd.

One young man listed reading as one of his hobbies.

When he came for interview I asked what he read.

To my horror the answer was "Comics".

He was a graduate of Chulalongkorn University.

[jdinasia]

hmmmm since I LIKE watching TV too ... does that mean? ....

[dukkha]

ABSOLUTEMENTE JD.....!!! Dukkha

[plachon]

I would file those survey results under 'Bleedin' Obvious'

It is a problem though, not just here. We have two young daughters and about two years ago I found that they were emulating some of the behavior from the Thai soaps. Not very attractive behavior either. I literally cut the cord (unplugged it first) and there was no TV in this house for over a year. Kids adapted very quickly, Mom didn't, so I reinstalled the plug and we are back where we started. I do want them to get used to reading for enjoyment and if you don't catch that young you probably will never catch it. I do my best to limit TV viewing, but the wife sees nothing wrong with it at all. I am not against TV, I have watched all kinds of crap and even enjoy some, but I think some kind of balance needs to be maintained, at least when the kids are in their formative years.

I have a ten year old daughter. She has been cruelly deprived of a TV by Mum and Dad for the last 4 years. She never complains or says "pleeeease dad can we get a TV". She is happy, balanced and has a Thai smile on her face all day long. She reads books by herself and the occasonal comic (Doraemon and that kind of thing). She loves watching the occasional DVD as a treat, and going to the cinema is a big thrill (Superman last week).

No regrets not having a TV in the house and am not surprised at the survey, which is churned out yearly. Even Tax-sin said he was worried about the lack of reading skills in Thai kids and said he'd build more librairies. No sign of that but plenty of Ipstar sattelite dishes and computers in schools which don't work and kids with no books to read.

[PeaceBlondie]

When my daughter was studying for one of her degrees in education, she found a survey that reported the best indicator that a child would succeed in school. It was not the family's social or economic status. It was not the student's IQ score or the parents' educational accomplishments. The best indicator that a child would succeed in school was.....the number of books in the household. Not the number of televisions.