Media education in Thailand: Contexts and prospects

In August 2005 Thailand's National Statistical Office released a survey announcing nearly three and a half million Thais to be 'illiterate'. Another fifteen million, it was discovered, had the ability to read but opted not to, for a range of reasons. One of these was a preference for watching television. Of the total who could read, over twenty five percent were found to be 'non-reading literates'. Possibly, the most revealing aspect of the survey was not its results but the intense public reaction in the following weeks: was Thailand turning into a country of passive couch potatoes; what did this say about our nation's cultural sensibilities; where was the potential for growth and change? Letters to daily newspapers flooded in, and column inches were filled with commentary, criticism, alarm, speculation and solutions.