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His Majesty once said that, when he was young, the Princess Mother gave him lots of books on various subjects that he could study in his own time. It became a habit for him, and ultimately led him to initiate thousands of royal projects.
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DONATIONS SOUGHT
Who'll buy this book?
By Kupluthai Pungkanon
Daily Xpress
Published on May 7, 2008
Celebrating its 40th year, the Thai Junior Encyclopaedia really does deserve to reach more kids
The Thai Junior encyclopaedia - distributed to schools since 1968 under the auspices of His Majesty the King - could reach a whole lot more students if the public is willing to contribute. Privy Councillor General Kamthon Sinthavanonda, who oversees the project, which was launched, financed and operated by the Lions Club of Thailand, is encouraging donations. "His Majesty once said that, when he was young, the Princess Mother gave him lots of books on various subjects that he could study in his own time," Kamthon notes. "It became a habit for him, and ultimately led him to initiate thousands of royal projects." The Thai Junior Encyclopaedia is a series of 33 illustrated books and nine pocket-size editions created by and for Thais. The King calls it "the Book of Knowledge", says Kajit Habanananda, a former president of Lions Clubs international. It has content geared to all ages, Kamthon points out, so that adults can learn more as well, and be better able to teach their kids. "The aim is to make it easy for even young children to read, and if they don't understand they can ask their older siblings or parents, and that fosters family bonding."
Lions Club project The Lions Club is able to distribute about 7,500 books a year to schools across the country, but there are more than 30,000 schools, Kamthon says, "so getting around to them all with a new edition takes four or five years". Printing costs continue to rise, but the cover price has remained Bt250 from the start for the reference edition and Bt80 for the pocketbooks.
xtraWords of wisdom >> The Thai Junior Encyclopaedia has more than 300 articles. A CD version is also available for Bt399. >> Call (02) 280 6515 or see Kanchanapisek.or.th/ kp6.
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