Cover Page the Handle Holds The

Cover Page The handle http://hdl.handle.net/1887/28849 holds the collection of TXT in the Leiden University Repository. This document has been released under the following Creative Commons license Using Listening to Encourage Reading in Thailand By Kesaree Prakumthong Student of Books and Digital Media Studies at Leiden University Introduction n 2013, Bangkok was chosen to be the a habit. There have been many efforts to IWorld’s book capital of the year. The encourage reading in Thailand for a long announcement amazed many people time, but most attempts have proven to because, at the same time, there was a be ineffective and little progress has been shocking statistic released by UNESCO on made. Every year, the funds for promoting the latest International Literacy Day stating reading are wasted on temporary superfi- that: ‘Thais only read eight lines per year’.1 cial events such as the Thai national book This statement caused an uproar among fairs which take place twice per year and Thai book lovers, since it was a flawed merely last two weeks. It would be no calculation based on the ratio of the total exaggeration to say that these book fairs Thai population and the number of books are the only substantial form of read- sold ‘legally’ per year. Nonetheless, ing promotion that takes place. The Thai during the past few years there has been government has never spent funding on a wide concern that there is a reading sustainable projects which could benefit crisis in Thailand and something needs to the country’s reading in the long term. All be done to solve the problem before things considered, it might be time to try Thailand becomes a member of the approaching the problem from a new ASEAN Community in 2015. perspective, with a new method such According to the National Statisti- as using listening to encourage reading. cal Office of Thailand,2 in 2011 68.6% of This essay is written with the purpose to Thai people who are over five years old explore the possibility of using listening read. The problem seems fairly severe to encourage reading. It will cover some because only 5% of them read daily, while background knowledge about reading cul- approximately 51% of Thais only read oc- ture in Thailand, reasons why the method casionally. Another problem is the lack of could work and finally how to put the reliable studies on reading levels up to the theory into practice. present day. For most Thais reading is not Beyond Boundaries 165 A brief history of reading and not contradict Siam’s government or law. printing in Thailand Because textbooks were important for teaching, a large number of books were The first change to reading in Thailand printed in order to meet the needs of these was caused by the introduction of West- new learners. Unfortunately, before they ern printing and book culture. Printing in received Thai types, printing in Thailand Thailand is believed to have started in the was interrupted by a change of reign in late Ayutthaya Era (1351 -1767) during the 1688. None of the books from this period reign of King Narai (Somdet Phra Narai survived because they were either confis- Maharat), in its most prosperous period. cated by King Phetracha in Siam or they At that time, Ayutthaya, the former capital were burned by the Burmese when they city of Thailand, opened its gates and wel- took over the city. comed foreigners who came in peace. There were later attempts to reestab- In 1662 Bishop lish printing culture Louis Laneau came in Siam, but it was to Siam3 with French not successful as the missionaries. He was In 1839, country was at war. active in propagating the first Thai Then came the man the Christian faith in who is considered Thailand by translat- official document, by many to be ‘the ing and publishing the proclamation Father of printing in bibles, Thai grammar Thailand’, Dr. Dan books and Thai- against opium, Beach Bradley M.D., English dictionaries. an American mission- Laneau made use of was published ary who arrived in existing Roman types Thailand in 1835. He and originally printed brought Thai types his books in Europe before shipping them and a wooden printing press along with to Thailand. Later, in 1670, there was a him and started his own printing house in request from the missionaries for making Siam. Although Dr. Bradley’s first intention Thai types and setting up a printing house was to propagate Christianity, he became directly in Thailand as Thai laborers were more interested in the art of printing and cheap. Also there were a growing number started several printing-related businesses. of Thai scholars interested in learning In 1839, the first Thai official document, about printing. the proclamation against opium, was pub- Printing machines were sent from lished. This was shortly followed by the France to Thailand and were used to first Thai newspaper: the Bangkok Reader. produce teaching materials. King Narai Driven by success and with support from granted the missionaries the freedom to the government, Dr. Bradley published teach Siamese people Christianity and more books by writing them himself and Western knowledge such as science, law buying copyrights from other authors, and other subjects, so long as they did which was the starting point of copyright 166 TXT : Exploring the Boundaries of the Book in Thailand. It could be said that the process run its full course without inter- printing business was mostly run by ruption in order to finally come to the foreigners until the reign of King most suitable solution for one’s culture. Vajiravudh (or Rama VI) who ruled the However, we cannot change the past, so country from 1910 to 1925. Vajiravudh was the wise thing to do now is to find out fond of literature and had a keen West- what was missing in that transition. ern mind. He wrote countless novels in To fill the gaps between Thai and a Western manner and rapidly improved the foreign reading culture, we have to printing techniques during his reign. consider where the Thai culture lifted Western printing culture transformed off. Modern printing was established in both books and reading in Thailand. The Thailand during the first half of Rattana- shape of books suddenly changed when kosin Era (1782-1851), which was around Dr. Bradley introduced a codex form. the same time as the Golden Age of Thai Formerly, books in Thailand were made literature. At that time, all important tradi- by ‘Lan’’s or ‘Koi’’s leaves called “Samut tional Thai literature were written in poetic Koi” (notebook made from Koi leaves) or prose, consisting of dazzling internal and “Samut Thai” (Thai’s notebook).4 These external rhythms which are pleasant to traditional books were written on a long listen to. In other words, they were written piece of paper which was then folded back for the sake of being read out loud. Ac- and forth to form a folded scroll shape. cording to history, Thais preferred to listen These ‘books’ were so sacred and delicate to literature more than read it. People that they were forbidden to be carried by with high social status such as royalty and any commoners and only monks and aris- aristocrats, listened to the literature during tocrats had direct access to these books. royal plays in the courts, while literature The only way commoners could access intended for commoners was used in such text was by listening to recitations. public plays. In their modern form, books became more A good example of this practice is durable and portable. This allowed books ‘Phra Aphai Mani’, an adventure-fantasy to reach a wider group of readers. story written by the most famous Thai On the basis of this brief history, it is poet of all time, Sunthorn Phu. It is obvious that reading culture in Thailand considered to be the greatest poetry and was not originally developed within the literature of the early Rattanakosin era. country by Thai people but was brought in One of the foreign printers made use of its by Westerners. To illustrate this point, con- popularity and published golden quotes sider reading culture as a plant: reading from ‘Phra Aphai Mani’ in a small ‘Samut culture did not grow its roots in Thailand Thai’ form and sold them for only 1 Salu- but was brought in later by the “grafting eng (about half a euro cent) each. Despite method”. Without roots, Thai reading the extremely low price, the profit was culture could not be as strong as it is in so large that he could afford to establish the Western world. Perhaps the Western a printing house. Readers bought these method may not fit into the Thai context. books to recite the lines they liked over It is important to let the development and over or to read them to their wives, Beyond Boundaries 167 children and slaves.5 Consequently the week.7 The programme were usually literature became a popular phenomenon run by two or three moderators who skim- in no time. read newspapers or scripts laid out before Reading was a shared experience and them, retelling the simplified stories to the public reading was the norm at this time. audience in a casual manner, as if they This made sense as Thai poetry has a they were having a face-to-face conversa- special rhythm. It may be read normally, tion with the audience. Unlike ordinary but a specific form of reading out loud news announcers, they shared their called ‘Sepha’ will make the poems sound personal opinions and often spoke ad-lib.

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