Survey:Most bookworms are in Bangkok

BANGKOK, April 4 (TNA) - A latest survey, jointly conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Thai Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, and the Thailand Knowledge Park (TK Park), has found that most bookworms are in Bangkok, with those aged 6-14 years being the largest proportion. The NSO and the TK Park announced the finding for 2018 at their joint press conference held in Bangkok on April 3. NSO Deputy Director General Wanpen Poonwong said at the press conference that the latest survey generally showed Thai people, aged 6 years up, were keen on reading, accounting for about 78.8 per cent, or 49.7 million, of the total Thai population. Wanpen stated that the joint survey also found most of the "bookworms" in 2018, or 92.9 per cent of them, were in Bangkok, followed by those in other central, northern and northeastern, as well as southern provinces at 80.4 per cent, 75 per cent and 74.3 per cent respectively. According to the NSO deputy chief, the lastest survey found Thai people spent more times on their reading last year at 80 minutes a day on average, compared to 66 minutes a day in 2015 and 37 minutes in 2013. The NSO deputy chief acknowledged that the "bookworms" read paper books about 88 per cent and electronic books (e-books) about 75.4 per cent last year. Meanwhile, TK Park chief Kittirat Pitipanich pointed out top 10 Thai areas where there were most "bookworms" in 2018, including Bangkok at 92.9 per cent, Samut Prakan at 92.7 per cent, Phuket at 91.3 per cent, Khon Kaen at 90.5, Saraburi at 90.1 per cent, Ubon Ratchathani at 88.8 per cent, Phrae at 87.6 per cent, Trang at 87.2 per cent, Nonthaburi at 86.6 per cent and Pathum Thani at 86.2 per cent. The TK Park chief mentioned that the latest survey found, on the other hand, that there were about 21.2 per cent of the total Thai population who were not keen on reading last year, reasoning that they loved watching TV, hardly had free times, were not interested in, or even disliked, reading and like playing games instead. The TK Park chief noted, however, that there was a promising trend that young Thai people, aged only 6-14 years, read more in 2018, while the older teenagers and those in their working and retired ages did not have the reading habit, urging relevant Thai agencies and parents to find ways to promote the reading habit for these groups of people. (TNA)