How to make reading an imitative behaviour in Thailand

This is an excellent idea that other schools should copy. Reading is another area in which we are lagging behind in Asean. I do hope, however, that “easy-to-read” English books will also be made available to the children once they have adopted a reading habit. In the long run, of course, hardcopy reading will be overtaken by its digital rival, the E-reader. But that transition will take a while, so this is a good start – especially for kids who lack a “reading atmosphere” and role models to imitate at home.
A few years ago I discussed this issue with a local Prathom teacher and told her I had previously tried to trigger a love of reading among kids by providing them with library subscriptions. My hope was that this would compensate for the lack of book-reading at home. 
We then came up with two more ideas – the creation of readers’ corners in classrooms, always accessible to the kids; and a “storytelling circle” on Monday morning. In the latter the kids would sit in a circle and each have about a minute to tell everyone what they had done over the weekend. This would encourage students to develop a “speaker’s corner” attitude and also foster a classroom atmosphere in which they were willing to ask and answer questions.
The teacher subsequently sent me pictures of her newly launched readers’ corner. I don’t know if the speakers’ corner ever took off. No big deal: a 50-per-cent success rate is okay. What we need now is more such ideas that teachers can implement to encourage learning in the classroom. Any suggestions? 
Dirk Sumter