Thailand’s national soft power sub-committee on books will propose to the government the establishment of ‘the Book Institute’ and ‘One Province, One Landmark Library’.
Charan Homtientong, its chair, said that their establishment will be included in a bill to be proposed in April and probably passed in October.
Charan also said that he will seek the input of publishers on the drafting of the bill and that the budget of Bt69 million for the panel to drive its proposal is relatively low, adding “It’s true that it appears to be a small sum when compared to other sectors under the national soft power committee. To me, however, it is a lot because the book issue has never been allocated a budget. We are starting from zero.”
The soft power committee, which has PM Srettha Thavisin as chairman and Pheu Thai party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra as his deputy, has allocated Bt5.1 billion for festivals, food and tourism.
Under the bill, a campaign for the setting up of “One province, one landmark library” will be included.
Books never die, Charan said, they have just changed into E-books and other digital platforms.
