I was watching a news programme the other day, and a headline captured my attention. The news anchor said that according to Unesco, Thais read four lines a year. Several years ago, I also heard something similar, only at the time it was eight lines, and that headline continued to circulate in our society, sparking debate and criticism about Thailand's education and people.
I felt a little research was called for, so I Googled it and found that the news is only available in Thai, and the Thai news websites cited this year's International Literacy Day as the source of that information. I Googled some more and found that International Literacy Day falls annually on Sept 8, almost a month from now. Where did that information come from? I have no idea.
Over the years I have seen so many versions of this depressing news. The result from the National Statistical Office in 2005 showed that, on the average, Thais read seven lines a day. Some other research said eight, some said seven. None of them could tell me whom they had asked, or what the criteria were.
How many words is one line? How do they count? I certainly don't count how many lines I read a day. Does reading billboards count as reading? What about gossip magazines? Do they count? More to the point, when you're captivated by what you're reading, do you really count how many lines you've read? I've just finished reading a novel and I don't know how many pages, let alone lines, I have read. Some of the websites elaborated that the survey counted only actual books, not online material and other forms of writing (and not newspapers, so what you're reading now doesn't count for anything according to this).
Why on Earth would anyone be measuring something under such unfair criteria? Are we still living in the era where the only source of reliable and useful information is published books? Many leading universities are offering their content for free online, and it is very useful.
Being a newspaper writer, not including newspapers in the reading count is quite sad, because it means what we've written is probably not regarded as useful.
Another interesting point is how the cyberworld reacted to this news. Most people automatically believed it and said things such as, "Oh, well, no wonder we're so backward" or "It's the government's fault. Thaksin is behind everything." Not many people even stopped to question the reliability of the news.
I think the real issue is not how much we read, but how well we read. If you read something without critical thinking, it could do more harm than good. With so much pseudo-science garbage circulating around us, as well as political rumours and celebrity gossip, reading a lot without thinking much might actually be a bad thing. Just log in to your Facebook account and see what your friends are sharing. Like this picture and the poor disabled girl will get money from your "Like". Share this picture of Ganesh and you will be rich. Drinking cold water will give you colorectal cancer. Chicken nuggets are made from pink slime. That makes a lot of sense, doesn't it?
Bangkok has been designated World Book Capital 2013, in recognition of national and international efforts to promote reading and literacy.
The Unesco stat only does the opposite, by flagging other materials as not useful. Literacy is supposed to provide us with a free mind and endless possibilities. Ironically, the news about Thais reading only four lines a year isn't even in books _ I only saw it in websites and newspapers _ so maybe we should disregard this as well?
Napamon Roongwitoo is a feature writer for the Bangkok Post.