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Published on August 17, 2007

As Thailand is struggling to win a better place in the world, how can we expect to achieve the goal when we don't read books, the main source of knowledge?

While opening a major book fair recently, the government came to the rescue. It declared a policy that Thais should read 12 lines a year. Wow! - a 50-per-cent increase.

But it remains ridiculous as far as Office of Basic Education Commission secretary-general Kasama Voravan na Ayudhya is concerned.

"The target should have been raised much higher, probably as to how many books they should read each year."

While the public is afraid that with little reading our children will be illiterate, Kasama is not so concerned on that score. She is confident that our kids read far more than 12 lines a year.

That's undoubtedly true. School kids have to read textbooks and, when they have homework, they have to search for information, which naturally entails reading.

So why is the overall national average so low?

Adults, it's your turn to answer how many lines you've read today, besides watching and listening to TV and radio shows.

Too successful?

The hugely successful "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" series has undoubtedly opened the door to the mysterious world of forensics.

For the first time, TV audiences are taken to the labs where the evidence is processed that helps the police point the finger at wrongdoers. The series has an enormous following and has also given birth to "CSI: Miami" and "CSI: New York".

However, the series has raised expectations that most of the crimes are not only solvable, but can be solved in as a little as one day - as on TV.

But expectation and reality often clash.

Jurors are generally told not to read the news about their case, and those in Ohio's Butler County cannot even look forward to their weekly instalment of "CSI".

Associated Press has reported that Common Pleas Judge Patricia Oney tells sitting jurors they cannot watch TV shows ranging from "CSI" to the "Law & Order"' series. Such shows can create unrealistic expectations for jurors, such as about what can and cannot be done with evidence, said Oney.

The jurors shouldn't worry. Soon, these new instalments will come out on DVD. And here they'll be less than Bt50 each.

achara_d@nationgroup.com