Young Thais read only an hour a day
Youngsters in Bangkok and other major cities now spend nearly an hour each day reading, although chatting on the phone and surfing the Internet still take up the greater part of their leisure time, the president of the Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand said on Thursday.
Thanachai Santichaikul told a seminar on Thai youths' reading habits that an Abac Poll survey had found that city children spent on average 52 minutes a day reading books other than their school books. This is a big jump from 2001, when a study found that Thai youths spent only three minutes a day reading. The survey - conducted between February and March on 4,920 youths aged between 12 and 23 in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chon Buri, Khon Kaen and Songkhla - also found that a great majority said they were readers, while only 18.5 per cent said they did not like reading because they were either lazy, bored or had no time for it, he said. More than half (61.2 per cent) said they bought books to read, while 31.9 per cent borrowed from rental shops and 25.8 per cent borrowed from libraries. Most youths preferred reading at home, followed by their friends' homes, book shops and public parks. Only 9 per cent read at public libraries, the survey found. The survey also revealed that chatting on the phone was the favourite activity among Thai youths, followed by surfing the Internet and reading books respectively. About 43 per cent said they would rather chat on the phone than read a book. "Looking at the bright side, reading is one of their favourite things, so the public and private sector and publishers should join forces to encourage reading," Thanachai said. On public libraries being the last place youths go to read, Privy Councillor Kasem Wattanachai said the NonFormal Education Commission Office lacked the funding to improve libraries, so it was time to transfer them to local administration organisations. It should be made a policy that every municipality has a library to ensure people's access to books, he added. Wilasinee Phiphitkul, communications director at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said the foundation would this year campaign for children's access to books - be it having more bookshops, supporting libraries, encouraging reading or urging publishers to produce quality books for youths. Seminar on Thursday was part of the Book Festival for Young People 2006 that is being held at the Queen Sirikit Convention Center until next Tuesday. Supinda Na Mahachai The Nation
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