This study investigated the effects of an instructional procedure which incorporated lexical cohesion and macrorules to promote main idea comprehension of Thai EFL students. One hundred and six undergraduate students taking a reading module were randomly assigned to one of three teaching conditions: the combined use of lexical cohesion and macrorules, lexical cohesion alone, and traditional skill-based instruction. The main idea comprehension test was employed to assess students' performance on main idea comprehension. Interviews were used to investigate the strategies use during main idea processing. Postintervention questionnaires were also applied to examine the students' attitudes towards the teaching models. Statistical analyses revealed a significant improvement in the main idea comprehension post-test of the experimental and control groups. Significance of group differences, however, was not found. The findings suggest that main idea instruction requires a simultaneous integration of various reading techniques. (Contains 4 tables.)