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[meom]

sbk, on 2005-04-23 22:38:11, said:

...It seems to me the height of arrogance to assume that just because you don't see many people reading a book  is because they don't like to read.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would not surprise me if the majority don't like to read.
Reading is something you do alone and the way I see it most thais don't like to do things alone. They prefer to do things together be it eating, drinking, playing cards,looking tv, dancing etc.. Even sleeping they prefer to do together; upto 8 people in the room no problem.

[aletta]

Did a straw poll of some locals yesterday and the number one answer as to why they don't read books was "kee giat" which means cannot be bothered and some said "jeb dtaa" which means reading hurts their eyes.

You see very few Thai with glasses so maybe that's a factor.

[plachon]

[quote name='Nordlys' date='2005-04-23 16:12:59']
How about a bottle of greeny? So long as it's ice-cool Heineken inside.

Well I'm really glad your wife is reading it.
How did she find out about the book and what prompted her to read it?

She says she saw a friends daughter (Matayom 4) reading it and looked at the blurb on the backcover and asked to borrow it. Hasn't regretted it.

And are you now telling me most Thai people don't know the Cambodian genocide of 3 million people just across from our border mere 30 years ago???? Yes! Most Thais have little idea of the events that unfolded in Cambodia in the late 70s, more than there was a civil war and lots of Khmer sought refuge in Thailand and were housed in camps along the border. But then few Brits and Yanks have a clue that their govts were covertly aiding and abetting the Khmer Rouge for years after Pol Pot's fall from power, even to the extent of sending SAS troops to train the KR in mine laying and guerillla tactics, which helped to kill many more thousands of innocents and are still killing and maiming civilians to this day.

.... and average 3 minutes of reading annually????? Does that surprise you? It doesn't me, when you average out all those folk upcountry that never lay hands on a book from one year to the next.

It's quite often quoted that Thailand has "95 % literacy" rates - which would put it on a par with most "developed" countries. It would be interesting to know about the sampling technique and what was considered as "functional literacy". One only has to do a quick straw poll of 100 villagers upcountry (the majority of this fair land),to know that most finished at Bor 4 (4th level primary) or below and would have a tough time reading the instructions on a medicine bottle, for example, to be a little bit sceptical about such official figures.

[Steve2UK]

meom, on 2005-04-23 19:24:21, said:

sbk, on 2005-04-23 22:38:11, said:

...It seems to me the height of arrogance to assume that just because you don't see many people reading a book  is because they don't like to read.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would not surprise me if the majority don't like to read.
Reading is something you do alone and the way I see it most thais don't like to do things alone. They prefer to do things together be it eating, drinking, playing cards,looking tv, dancing etc.. Even sleeping they prefer to do together; upto 8 people in the room no problem.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This thread really got me thinking. It certainly does seem to be the case that you generally see far fewer Thai reading a prose (as opposed to picture) book than in the West - to be fair, I can really only speak for UK & Germany. There aren't the bookstalls (with Thai titles) at rail stations, bus stations and airports that I'm used to. I wouldn't dream of going on even a one hour journey without something to read - even if it's a light "airport" novel (timekiller) - but then I'm genetically incapable of leaving a bookstore without having bought something.

Department store book departments and specialist book stores in LOS seem to have rack after rack of academic publications, but next to no Thai-language fiction (never mind whether it's translated). I recently spotted a Thai translation of a very funny UK novel called "e" - made up of entirely of brief e-mail messages, so it's very far from being a "dense" read. I bought a copy to give to an intelligent Thai friend - thinking that he would really enjoy a great laugh with it. He looked at it as if I'd decided to give him a car jack........when he doesn't have a car. After a while he said: "Maybe better you keep it and use it yourself sometime?".

[aletta]

Thais are very gregarious and like to do things in a crowd and reading a novel is a very egocentric thing to do."mai sanuuk"A comic you can share and show.

The wife does not ever eat on her own and will always find someone to join the meal as "khon diow gin khao mai alloy".Eating on your own makes the meal unappetising.

[sbk]

You think 300 baht for a book is cheap? If the person earns 3000 baht a month (and many do), 300 baht is a substantial amount.

Many people here (and many farang I see for that matter) do not have the habit of reading. And how does one develop that habit if one has limited or no access to books? It's a pity Thailand doesn't have public libraries like in the US or Europe because I think that if they did then it would be easier to develop an interest in reading from an early age.

[Sarpedon]

There are libraries available to the public. Neilson hayes on Surawong, The SET library which is next to the Queen Sirikit and the Knowledge park which is onthe 6th floor of the Central World Plaza. There ya go for starters!

[siamesekitty]

Sarpedon, on 2005-04-25 15:48:28, said:

There are libraries available to the public. Neilson hayes on Surawong, The SET library which is next to the Queen Sirikit and the Knowledge park which is onthe 6th floor of the Central World Plaza. There ya go for starters!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think the last two were opened not too long ago; as for the Neison Hayes library, I hadn't heard about it until last year, I don't think many people know about it either.

The only one I've been to so far, Knowledge Park, was already overflowing with people on the weekends. And how many people are there in Bangkok??

[ProfessorFart]

Thais are notoriously bad novel readers. Consider that the average print run for a novel in Thailand is only 2000 copies for a population of 60 million and you start to get the picture.

[sbk]

Sarpedon, on 2005-04-25 15:48:28, said:

There are libraries available to the public. Neilson hayes on Surawong, The SET library which is next to the Queen Sirikit and the Knowledge park which is onthe 6th floor of the Central World Plaza. There ya go for starters!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So my husband is supposed to travel to Bangkok to check out a book? A very large percentage of the population do not live in Bangkok and the few libraries you list (3 compared to how many millions of people?) are only in Bangkok. You forget that Bangkok is not the entire country.

[Sarpedon]

Yeah i only know of libraries in bangkok. Dont know what the situation is outside of the capital. I would like to think there are other libraries around but somehow i doubt it.

Thailand doesnt have much of a reading culture here but i think its changing all over the world too..Its all playstation, surfing the internet and playing with mobiles these days..maybe with the new mobile technology soon people can read books on their mobiles!

[siamesekitty]

Sarpedon, on 2005-04-26 15:27:24, said:

Yeah i only know of libraries in bangkok. Dont know what the situation is outside of the capital. I would like to think there are other libraries around but somehow i doubt it.

Thailand doesnt have much of a reading culture here but i think its changing all over the world too..Its all playstation, surfing the internet and playing with mobiles these days..maybe with the new mobile technology soon people can read books on their mobiles!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I read the first three Harry Potter books on my Palm