Ferangled

Did I suggest they did? I only commented on the blatant hypocrisy on display. Sorry if that upsets you but it's true, your rant does nothing to address that.

It's very easy to be critical as the opposition but not so easy to apply that same criticism to yourself when in power.

When Abhisit was in power he threw in the towel while negotiating with Red Shirt leaders (Weng, Veera and Jatuporn), live on National TV, before things would get out of hand. He offered to step down and have early elections. The Red Shirt negotiators (also where else in the world would this happen on national TV) first seemed to agree, then after some text messages coming in (guess from who?), they denied his resolution. And the days after, the proverbial shit hit the fan!

Abhisit was reasonable, critical of the situation and his position in it and openly offered a way out! What else would you want him to do?

If an election had been held prior to this would we have seen this carnage on the streets of Bangkok?

It's quite an experience trying to remain neutral on here; I have no ties to either political party and comment on as neutral a basis as possible... why is that that there's such a blatant bias in the response?!

The mere suggestion that an opposition politician could be capable of hypocrisy and there's an overwhelming outcry... that speaks volumes to me about the bias evident here.

Next I will be labelled a red shirt sympathizer or similar...

Claiming that this isn't hypocrisy just demonstrates blatant bias. It's convenient for your stance to label one protest as peaceful and another as armed insurgency.

The facts however would dispute your carefully chosen words:

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 wounded during the 2010 rallies

Digest that fact then consider these words...

"Even if the PAD has done wrong, the government has no right to hurt the people."

If you really can't see the hypocrisy in that statement, given the events of 2010, you are being entirely selective with your reasoning.

The PAD did not use or had grenades, rocket launchers, armed militias, LPG tankers, blood collections, hospital raids, killing of radio hosts, attack of army personnel and take their tanks and weapons, attack army barracks, steal corpses (evidence) from hospitals, attack rallies of those with an other opinion, attack gay parades, threaten people in villages to vote for certain political party, kill soldiers near Democracy Monument .....................should I go on!

Name 1 country in the world, without functioning riot police where eventually the army would not step in!

Did I suggest they did? I only commented on the blatant hypocrisy on display. Sorry if that upsets you but it's true, your rant does nothing to address that.

It's very easy to be critical as the opposition but not so easy to apply that same criticism to yourself when in power.

"another factory main produce Tablet PC, Mobile Phone & GPS and annual production capacity is more than 5 million units".

Yes my mistake, should have read that to mean 90,000 units... clear as mud!

For the first part, go back and review the forum rules,

For the second part, while I believe you that the 1000 has been reported, it is not in this thread, and posting a link would be a common courtesy.

As for the third, there are many conclusions that normal people could come to, including the one that just says, "the chinese supplier lied about their capacity, and have been caught". And in any case, there are more than the 2 possible conclusions you proposed.

Google "Shenzen Scope" and first off the rank is their web site which states 1500 employees (60 in R&D), 56 product lines "main produce TV & AD Player. and another factory main produce Tablet PC, Mobile Phone & GPS" and "annual production capacity is more than 5 million units".

After such rudimentary research I would be highly sceptical that they could produce 1 million tablets in the time frame stipulated. Then again I am not experienced in international purchasing agreements, tablet computers or corruption. It seems the govt team also share this problem on at least 2 out of 3 counts.

If they are advertising on their website that they have a production capacity of over 5 million units annually, as you say, then they have clearly misled their customers. We are now being told that actually they are only capable of producing 1000 units a day, equivalent to 365,000 units annually; considerably less than the 5 million+ they have claimed.

If they could actually produce 5 million annually, it would have taken c. 2 1/2 months to complete the order... in line with the proposed scheme.

Ummm..............No. " "annual production capacity is more than 5 million units" consisting of 56 product lines, not 5 million tablets. If each product line was equally produced, that would give you 90,000 of each.

Sorry, that wasn't clear in your statement; had you said total production capacity is 5 million units for all 56 product lines it would have been.

You actually said "another factory main produce Tablet PC, Mobile Phone & GPS and annual production capacity is more than 5 million units".

Now you are saying that's not the case... Again I feel we are getting back to a lack of basic sentence composition in conveying a point. Quite ironic given that this is a thread about an educational scheme...

For the first part, go back and review the forum rules,

For the second part, while I believe you that the 1000 has been reported, it is not in this thread, and posting a link would be a common courtesy.

As for the third, there are many conclusions that normal people could come to, including the one that just says, "the chinese supplier lied about their capacity, and have been caught". And in any case, there are more than the 2 possible conclusions you proposed.

Google "Shenzen Scope" and first off the rank is their web site which states 1500 employees (60 in R&D), 56 product lines "main produce TV & AD Player. and another factory main produce Tablet PC, Mobile Phone & GPS" and "annual production capacity is more than 5 million units".

After such rudimentary research I would be highly sceptical that they could produce 1 million tablets in the time frame stipulated. Then again I am not experienced in international purchasing agreements, tablet computers or corruption. It seems the govt team also share this problem on at least 2 out of 3 counts.

If they are advertising on their website that they have a production capacity of over 5 million units annually, as you say, then they have clearly misled their customers. We are now being told that actually they are only capable of producing 1000 units a day, equivalent to 365,000 units annually; considerably less than the 5 million+ they have claimed.

If they could actually produce 5 million annually, it would have taken c. 2 1/2 months to complete the order... in line with the proposed scheme.

Ah... the legendary flexibility of all politicians....

Please consider this article http://www.prachatai...glish/node/1760

Including the statement..... (only 10% - mostly quotes made to the press, so fair-use)

On 7 Oct 2008, then Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat ordered a crackdown on the PAD protests in front of Parliament House, resulting in two deaths and over 400 injuries. Abhisit held a press conference after a meeting of his party.

‘For all that has happened, the PM cannot deny his responsibility, either by negligence or intention.

‘What is even worse than laying the blame on the authorities is vilifying the people.

‘I have never thought that we would have a state which has the people killed and seriously injured, and then accuses the people of the crimes. This is unacceptable.

........... (parts left out - read the full article)

‘There is nowhere else on earth, in democratic systems, where the people are abused by the state, but the government which comes from the people does not take responsibility.

‘For what we have said today, the government must not make the accusation that it is because we agree with all points of the PAD. Even if the PAD has done wrong, the government has no right to hurt the people.’

When reporters asked why Somchai still stayed on despite such a crisis, Abhisit said, ‘I have no idea. I have never seen a person like this. If he were a normal human of the kind that I know, it would not have been like this.’

Your post markedly fails to mention that the situations were not comparable. AFAIK all the deaths and injuries were suffered by the protesters, none of whom were armed with military weapons and using them to kill and maim police/RTA. Yes, they were causing inconvenience and disruption, but they were NOT invading hospitals, firing M-79 grenades at bystanders, or RPGs at oil tanks and temples. If you can't see that difference then you deliberately closing your eyes.

The tear gas canisters used were completely inappropriate and their use by police not trained for this caused the casualties. The responsibility for that rests with those ordering the attack. Had the same canisters been used against the red-shirts with similar results, Abhisit would have indeed been culpable. Whether he is or not for the 91 deaths HE is willing to have examined.

I think you missed the point a little. Both sides committed crimes. I think you could talk about UDD crimes all day, so I won't recap, but remember that that particular protest by PAD blocked access to Parliament - which again is breaking the law. Honestly.... I don't think the RTP really understood the difference between military tear gas canisters and ones used in the west for crowd control. But that's OT.

The point you missed was the hypocrisy (common among politicians worldwide) of preaching while in opposition, then doing the opposite while in power.

I didn't miss the point, I thought that was not valid. The speech quoted was referring to deaths of peaceful protesters by incompetent use of the wrong equipment. Saying that the RTP didn't know what they were doing only emphasises that point.

To compare that to the actions taken to disperse protesters knowingly shielding armed insurgents after weeks of tolerance, concessions, negotiation and finally warnings borders on the farcical.

Claiming that this isn't hypocrisy just demonstrates blatant bias. It's convenient for your stance to label one protest as peaceful and another as armed insurgency.

The facts however would dispute your carefully chosen words:

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 wounded during the 2010 rallies

Digest that fact then consider these words...

"Even if the PAD has done wrong, the government has no right to hurt the people."

If you really can't see the hypocrisy in that statement, given the events of 2010, you are being entirely selective with your reasoning.

"... in defence of Markaew, representative democracy does work ... really ... elected representatives do generally reflect he values of the majority of the constituency that selects them.

... you have to exclude examples as slime ball Americans President Richard Nixon, or Senator John Edwards, since they deceived their constituency to win their votes ... but, Thai politicians? ... c'mon ... jeez, there is hardly any question as to their deep corruptness ... Thai voters know that ... they accept it (in overwhelming numbers [70%+/-], as documented by ABAC polls year after year) ... they elect them anyway.

... what is an observer of human nature to conclude about the average Thai of voting age? ... representative democracy works ... it really does ... while there are certainly exceptional individuals amongst the average, generally painting the majority of a constituency with the same color as the representative they elect is quite reasonable.

... incidentally, as Markeaw, I do not live here insulated in the glorious oblivity of a farang cocoon ... I get Thai cultural values very up-close and personal (and I go nowhere near the thousands of brothels that infect this deeply troubled nation) ... emersed in Thais ... for 12+ years now ... that is the only way a farang might 'get it', and then only after several years ... so, take your best shot Ferangled, or move along."

Yet again you have failed to actually pick up on the content of any of my posts, failed to actually reply to anything I've written... and just launched on a rant about representative democracy... take my best shot?! At what?! What are you blithering on about?! Did you even read my post? I was directly replying to this:

"The problem here is you don't get out enough among average Thais and your eyes are glazed over with denial. They are quick to scam and leach money/beer/possessions/food at every opportunity. By the way, I don't live in Bangkok and I live among the Thais."

I disagree with the sentiment expressed by Markaew that your average Thai is purely out to scam and leach money, beer, possessions and food at every opportunity. You it would appear support this grossly distorted generalization...

This is certainly not representative of the average Thai in my experience... your experience is clearly different, again I'd suggest that you question why it is that you promote this response from people, when clearly many others don't. Please support your statement rather than changing the topic entirely and making assumptions about my lifestyle.

It would appear to me that you have had some bad experiences and are making vast generalizations as a result. These views show more of your critically dysfunctional outlook on life and inability to connect with your Thai counterparts than they reflect on the outlook of your "average Thai"...

If you are indeed a parent that nurtures such a depressing view of the population of the country you reside in, I'd suggest you think long and hard about what's best for your children and not comment on what's best for others when you know nothing of their situation. To attempt to raise children in what you perceive as such a dangerous and flawed environment is sheer lunacy.

Please try to defend your views without making wild assumptions about others. As for picking up on your basic grammatical mistakes Markaew, seems pretty relevant to me given this is a thread about education and you are putting yourself forward as an authority on this and parenting. Perhaps you should return to school and learn basic spelling and grammar before expecting people to take your views on education seriously....

Why am I not surprised that you chose only to comment on that small part of my response, and, yet again, failed to answer any of the actual content? I guess it was such a "weak argument" that you struggled to compose a literate response...

I'm not saying that her improved performance is purely because of the tablet, but it's a great way of keeping her constructively amused. Most 4 or 5 year olds can pick one up and be totally comfortable with it after a few tries but just watch the number of adults continually struggling with their smart phones and gadgets...

Yes, my 2 1/2 year old taught me how to use the 'need a password for any change' utility on my iphone when he deleted 'Real Racing 2', which after 3 months I was within 1 race of completing the game with 1st position in every race

However the Government squirm out of this plan, I don't care, whether they are planning to use the Chinese as scapegoats or what, but the total failure of this project at the moment will be the best thing the government has done since it came into power. There has been no thought, no planning, nothing. Time to start a 2 year scoping study and planning phase for a 3 year from now start point.

I think that would be ideal, having time to properly evaluate and implement not that your 2 1/2 yr old deleted your game!

Sadly a potential loss of support leading to a change in Government within that time-frame motivates all schemes and policies to be rushed through without proper thought... sadly a trend that can be seen in many Governments in many countries, an unfortunate reality of democracy!

In a word, no.

That said I don't think the opposition would be either. I'm sure we'd see similar holdups and the same general display of incompetence.

If I may paraphrase your last 2 posts, you think any of us critical of this scheme are Luddites denying the children of Thailand a wonderful learning experience, but neither party is capable of administering the scheme?

No thanks, I'd much prefer if you could actually quote me and question me on the content of my posts rather than simply attributing a false position to me on this.

If you could actually digest the content of my posts, you might realize that I support the concept but not the implementation.

That's why I posed it as a question.

As to implementation, I see the ANNUAL demand as 1 million units, rising to possibly 3 million if the tablets are replaced/upgraded every 2 years. Unless of course this is merely a flash-in-the-pan one-off stunt. The preferred tenderer has capacity to satisfy 10% of that. It should take quite a big rethink.

In another thread I am asking why any country would seek to import such a large number of devices rather than ask a manufacturer to produce them here, with guaranteed government orders.

That's a valid question but I'd imagine the fairly obvious answer lies in the lack of any existing Thai companies abilities to fulfill such an order.

I think that in reality the majority of countries embarking on such an enterprise would be relying on Chinese companies, maybe not as the end suppliers, but certainly as manufacturers of certain components.

I suggest it would be far better to stall a year & do a deal with a mainstream company like Acer, Apple or Samsung. As a nationwide scheme to improve education it could serve as a great advertising campaign for any company involved and I'm sure a competitive deal could be worked out.

The key being these companies are actually capable of fulfilling such huge orders and have a support system in place for end users.

Personally I'd like to see something like this http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/tablets/371776/asus-eee-pad-transformer-prime with Windows 8 running on it, properly evaluated with consideration to running educational software and a whole year to prepare the education system for it's arrival...

And while we're talking education, a quick lesson in grammar for you, free of charge...

"If I may paraphrase your last 2 posts" forms a question, to which I replied..

"you think any of us critical of this scheme are Luddites denying the children of Thailand a wonderful learning experience, but neither party is capable of administering the scheme" is a statement of your inaccurate assumption of my point of view...

You're welcome

if implemented correctly.

This is the key condition. Which means there should be qualified, competent and experienced people handling this and preferably without corruption. Do you think the current government are the best people to smoothly bring this massive project through to successful completion and maintenace of ongoing operations?

In a word, no.

That said I don't think the opposition would be either. I'm sure we'd see similar holdups and the same general display of incompetence.

If I may paraphrase your last 2 posts, you think any of us critical of this scheme are Luddites denying the children of Thailand a wonderful learning experience, but neither party is capable of administering the scheme?

No thanks, I'd much prefer if you could actually quote me and question me on the content of my posts rather than simply attributing a false position to me on this.

If you could actually digest the content of my posts, you might realize that I support the concept but not the implementation.

if implemented correctly.

This is the key condition. Which means there should be qualified, competent and experienced people handling this and preferably without corruption. Do you think the current government are the best people to smoothly bring this massive project through to successful completion and maintenace of ongoing operations?

In a word, no.

That said I don't think the opposition would be either. I'm sure we'd see similar holdups and the same general display of incompetence.

It can´t be worse than it is now.

Of course it could; they could have spunked all the budget with this Chinese supplier only to realize after they'd signed the contract, that in the time frame it would take for them to actually complete the order, they'd be getting a pile of obsolete paper weights.

This creates a perfect opportunity for them to actually think the scheme through, find the correct product and supplier, and implement it properly... will they? Dubious.

if implemented correctly.

This is the key condition. Which means there should be qualified, competent and experienced people handling this and preferably without corruption. Do you think the current government are the best people to smoothly bring this massive project through to successful completion and maintenace of ongoing operations?

In a word, no.

That said I don't think the opposition would be either. I'm sure we'd see similar holdups and the same general display of incompetence.

"The whole notion of "On-line learning" is ridiculous."

"There is a reason that books (and I include EBooks, EReaders, etc.) are popular, it's the fastest way to learn!!!"

In your own post you have contradicted yourself. Online learning is ridiculous but e-books are the fastest way to learn. Awesome stuff. I guess it hasn't dawned on you that tablets can be used to read e-books...

"I gave my GF a notebook 2 years ago. It's only used for photo's and music and a few games. I brought back a tablet and even I play more games on it than I ever have in my life. But that's it. She looks at the English courses sometimes, and their not bad but for the most part, games and more games."

I'd politely suggest that this says more about you & your GF than the capacity of tablets to be used for educational purposes... but thanks for the insight into your personal life.

Miracle Year Thailand

Thaksin primeminister

Floods

Earthquake

I get it.

Miracle TV poster.

Random.

Overly spaced.

Off topic.

Nonsense post.

How.

Inconsiderate.

of.

Thailand.

to.

have.

an.

earthquake.

For anyone genuinely interested in the subject of tablet PCs in education, rather than simply using this thread as an excuse to further your ridicule of Thailand's political & educational systems or direct insults at other TV members, please try actually researching the subject:

http://dera.ioe.ac.u...tpcs_report.pdf

http://www.pcworld.c..._to_school.html

http://c9s.e2bn.net/..._literature.pdf

http://ctl.sri.com/p...p?Nick=tabletpc

So contrary to what many have posted here, it seems this whole concept isn't unique to Thailand and is actually seen as beneficial to education if implemented correctly. These studies range from UK to US to Singapore... and there's a common trend in the findings... if you care to take a break from spouting off and actually read them...

Personally I prefer to base my opinions on multiple studies performed by educational bodies than a few bitter old TV members who are clearly very backward in outlook and resistant to change.

If we were all so blinkered in our views we'd still be routinely burning witches...

I made one of the first replies to your post that has since had 10 likes

So there.

Brilliant post. My wife was going on about this prediction about the 28th last night. I said BS, enough. No one can predict an earthquake, not alone a tsunami! And the last tsunami didn't hit our house in Rawai, so why worry? It will take at least 2 hours if there is an earthquake in Indonesia or Malaysia to reach Phuket anyway.... Unbelievable.

I think you'll find while no one can accurately predict an earthquake, anyone is capable of predicting one, albeit inaccurately!

As for Tsunamis these are generally the direct result of other natural disasters, commonly earthquakes. So predicting a Tsunami following an earthquake is potentially pretty accurate; but only after the earthquake has taken place.

As more of these events take place scientists get the opportunity to study them and accuracy in this area will improve. This is vital because a few hours warning can prevent needless loss of life in these situations.

As for predicting that Phuket will disappear into the sea on the 28th... agree entirely, total BS.

Another scam! My son attends a Thai school here in Bangkok. I was told about the tablets so I told him. He was very happy about the plan. What do I tell him now? He'll grow up not believing what he is told by authorities. This is how the trust goes out of the window.

A good lesson for him. Never believe a politician. My question to you is: Are you teaching him people are trustworthy in Thailand? Reconsider. My other question to you is if you are so worried about him having a tablet why don't you buy him one?

My question to you is how do you leap from politicians aren't trustworthy (that's a given!) to people in Thailand aren't trustworthy?! There's plenty of trustworthy people here, just not where the majority of expats choose to spend their time... perhaps venture out of Nana plaza once in a while?!

It's not a leap from politicians to average people. Politicians just have more opportunities and money to demonstrate their worth. Average people are no different here. The problem here is you don't get out enough among average Thais and your eyes are glazed over with denial. They are quick to scam and leach money/beer/possessions/food at every opportunity. By the way, I don't live in Bangkok and I live among the Thais. - Markaew

I would suggest that it's better to teach that trust should be earned rather than instilling a complete lack of trust of everyone in our children.

I agree. - Markaew

As to your 2nd question it's clearly just a bait; the point isn't that the poster "is so worried" that his child needs a tablet, the point is having been told he's to receive one now he'll be disappointed. If you are so concerned about his plight, you could always offer him one yourself?

I am not foolish enough as you to buy a tablet for a 4 1/2 year old. You apparently have more money than sense. As demonstrated by the huge majority here in this thread, it is foolish to buy even a 6 year old a tablet. - Markaew

The only thing demonstrated by the "huge majority" on here, is that education in the west clearly isn't up to scratch, or wasn't 50 or so years ago when the average TV poster was in school... basic spelling & grammar is appalling and the naivety displayed by taking a majority opinion on TV as proof of anything shows a gaping void where your common sense should be.

I truly pity you if you really live surrounded by people you feel you can't trust. Perhaps you should move somewhere else or perhaps you should look closely at yourself and why you seem to attract people that try to "scam and leach money/beer/possessions/food" from you "at every opportunity".

If that's a situation that you are content with, you are clearly short of a marble or two... personally if I was in a similar position I would do something about it and I don't mean whining on TV!

You are in denial if you believe that is a healthy situation to raise children in, although somehow I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to bear your children and your comments on parenting are about as relevant as a condom is to a pair of lesbians.

"I am not foolish enough as you to buy a tablet for a 4 1/2 year old"

Perhaps not but then again if your parents had invested a bit more into your education then you might be able to construct a sentence properly... there's a few handy apps that could have helped you on this http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/grammar-app-by-tap-to-learn/id377188655?mt=8

If you can protect your funds long enough from those "average Thais" that try to "scam and leach money/beer/possessions/food" from you "at every opportunity", I suggest you try it out... you might actually learn something and catch up with my 4 1/2 year old!

Plan C, after it does not work with text-books 1 sheet of paper and a pencil for every child.....

Updated campaign poster :

Interesting that you point out there is no date on the election posters. What happens now pales into insignificance compared to the year before the next general elections. If in 2 years time there is progress with tablets, high speed rail, 300 Baht nationwide minimum wage, etc. PT will give the Dems another pasting at the polls. Maybe they aren't as stupid as you are trying to make them out to be.

Yes they are!

This is the sort of constructive comment that makes TV such a useful platform for debate.

When your capacity for comment hasn't evolved much further than a Punch and Judy show, I'd suggest that you're not in a great position to comment on any educational matters; your own education was clearly far from perfect.

Just for the record I have given my 4 1/2 year old a Samsung Galaxy, filled it with learning games and books and she absolutely loves it. She's excelling at school, is streaks ahead of the class and her written skills are coming on leaps and bounds.

I'm not saying that her improved performance is purely because of the tablet, but it's a great way of keeping her constructively amused. Most 4 or 5 year olds can pick one up and be totally comfortable with it after a few tries but just watch the number of adults continually struggling with their smart phones and gadgets...

I'm all for bringing technology into education, as such a growth industry it will serve children well to be comfortable with the latest techno trends. So many people are completely out of touch when it comes to IT, yet just look at the top performing companies - Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google... it's fairly clear that technology is becoming an increasingly vital part of our lives.

There's a whole service industry that's sprung up just to help the current technologically impaired generation, who seem incapable of applying basic problem solving skills to anything mildly technical. When the work place revolves around IT, clinging onto the blackboards and text books in schools seems ignorant to me.

I know the actual concept of tablets as educational aids is completely lost amongst the storm of wanna be political commentators, as are most topics on here. Constructive comment has long since died out in preference to a continual smear campaign on either side, which benefits noone but the egos evident on TV.

I fully recommend that parents invest in their own tablets for their children, but clearly for the Thai parents with children at government schools, most don't have the luxury of being able to afford them. Hence it is a big deal when their children are promised them but they don't materialize...

As for the actual tablets to be used, forget these cheap chinese paper weights, stall until next year, wait for Microsoft to join the fray and evaluate Windows 8 dedicated tablet/ laptops before spending billions of baht on what will be obsolete by the end of this year.

Another scam! My son attends a Thai school here in Bangkok. I was told about the tablets so I told him. He was very happy about the plan. What do I tell him now? He'll grow up not believing what he is told by authorities. This is how the trust goes out of the window.

A good lesson for him. Never believe a politician. My question to you is: Are you teaching him people are trustworthy in Thailand? Reconsider. My other question to you is if you are so worried about him having a tablet why don't you buy him one?

My question to you is how do you leap from politicians aren't trustworthy (that's a given!) to people in Thailand aren't trustworthy?! There's plenty of trustworthy people here, just not where the majority of expats choose to spend their time... perhaps venture out of Nana plaza once in a while?!

I would suggest that it's better to teach that trust should be earned rather than instilling a complete lack of trust of everyone in our children.

As to your 2nd question it's clearly just a bait; the point isn't that the poster "is so worried" that his child needs a tablet, the point is having been told he's to receive one now he'll be disappointed. If you are so concerned about his plight, you could always offer him one yourself?

Plan C, after it does not work with text-books

1 sheet of paper and a pencil for every child.....

Updated campaign poster :

Interesting that you point out there is no date on the election posters. What happens now pales into insignificance compared to the year before the next general elections. If in 2 years time there is progress with tablets, high speed rail, 300 Baht nationwide minimum wage, etc. PT will give the Dems another pasting at the polls. Maybe they aren't as stupid as you are trying to make them out to be.

Guess we'll have to wait and see how much progress on their multitude of promises they keep.

So far, they are something like 1 for 18.

p.s. the PTP did announce a completion date for nation-wide Free WiFi. 2015.

They also announced there were supposedly already 20,000 free WiFi hotspots in Bangkok as of last January, with an additional 20,000 free WiFi spots there by this October, which would eventually lead to 250,000 free WiFi spots in Bangkok by 2015 for their 30 Billion Baht scheme.

.

I have it on good authority that one of these free wifi hotspots is up and running in Thai Parliament already...

To suggest this would have to be from a Samsung device seems ignorant:

"The devices have a built-in application that allows the user to transmit data wirelessly to the screens through their WiFi dongle."

Actually the wifi is built in and not via a dongle, as it is with iPhones, iPads, and virtually every smart phone on the market, all of which are capable of transmitting data wirelessly... err ... that's what wifi devices do, it's not unique to Samsung!

As to passwords, the only one that seems relevant is that of their wireless network... mobile numbers & SIM cards? What relevance?

It amazes me that people can spout such complete nonsense then proceed to dig themselves deeper and deeper trying to defend their ridiculous statements. Too long in Thailand maybe, better to try to save face than simply admit you made a crass and idiotic statement?

It doesn't matter how much you argue the toss, the fact is that most Thai people are well aware of the possible dangers resulting from Earthquakes having suffered as a result of the Tsunami caused by the 2004 Indonesian earthquake.

Fortunately it seems we are now far better prepared, with public awareness raised and warning systems in place. Hence the Tsunami warnings/ evacuations following the first Sumatran earthquake, prior to the Phuket quake. If you can't see that these other events are entirely relevant to the scenario than you need some basic education in cause and effect.

In between large, distant trembles felt from the recent quakes off Sumatra, Phuket experienced a small earthquake and over 20 minor aftershocks. In my humble opinion, anyone reacting to these events with concern is entirely justified, especially given that many experts see these events as linked and some predict an even larger earthquake in the same region that caused the 2004 disaster...

The reality however, despite some sensationalist articles citing widespread panic in Phuket, is that most people are just getting on with their day to day lives and any "doomsday rumors" are from an isolated minority. I have made Phuket home with my wife and children, I am not Thai but I am wary of the situation; I'm not running around spreading rumors or predicting the end of the world, I am quietly wary of the situation and keeping up to date with any related news articles & studies. To me that seems the rational thing to do, sorry if that leaves me open to attack from deranged TV members...

I fail to see that this situation requires any childlike criticism of Thais as a whole, made with a total lack of sensitivity to the events of 2004.

It’s a shame you didn't read the link you posted:

“This info from one of Richard Barrow's websites on the largest earthquake ever felt in Thailand...”

The author addresses everything that you failed to in his article, citing the 2004 Tsunami as a basis for worry, the fact that the Sumatran quake was felt just prior to the Phuket quake etc. A slightly more balanced opinion than the one you expressed!

Your original comment:

"I've lived through 6.5+ magnitude earthquakes centered near where I was staying at the time... What the heck are the Thais getting all worked up about over some pissy little temblors... They have no clue what a real BIG earthquake would do to their lives."

The article you reference:

“As it turned out, many people in Southern Thailand, and even in Bangkok, felt this tremor. Immediately, people along the West coast started to panic. And for good reason as many of them remembered the devastating Tsunami in 2004. Fortunately nothing happened. But then, another quake hit. This time it was centered around Talang District in Phuket itself. The first 4.3 quake struck Phuket at 4.44pm on Monday 16th April, followed two minutes later by the 5.7 quake. Since then, there has been many minor aftershocks which could continue for several more weeks.”

It's quite refreshing to have someone post a link to an article totally contrary to their own comments, it almost reads as an answer to your ridiculous statement!

I guess you don't live in Phuket because it's pretty bloody obvious here that the vast majority of people aren't overreacting, but are getting on with life as normal, albeit wary of future developments.

Ahh, I see... So everyone needs to pay attention to your opinion...and let's just completely disregard the article that was the OP in this thread and what it reported....

PHUKET: -- Phuket Governor Tri Akaradecha on Friday ordered that a complaint be filed with police against persons spreading rumours that doomsday will arrive in Phuket by April 28.

The rumours have been spreading like wildfire ever since a quake rocked Phuket on Monday causing panic among many locals. Several aftershocks have followed, with a tremor of 3.2 magnitude felt at 2am on Friday.

Just another normal day in Phuket...with rumors of doomsday abounding among Thais...

That report and the opinions it reflects was the basis of my post on the people, as the article puts it "many locals," holding those silly, uneducated, unscientific views.

I haven't suggested that anyone needs to pay attention to my opinion, I haven't even stated it, merely pointed out that yours is pure BS.

"I've lived through 6.5+ magnitude earthquakes centered near where I was staying at the time... What the heck are the Thais getting all worked up about over some pissy little temblors... They have no clue what a real BIG earthquake would do to their lives."

As far as " silly, uneducated, unscientific views" go, I can't find a better example of this than your own.

I didn't even touch on the fact that you are conveniently grouping the entire population of Thailand in your sweeping statements - "What the heck are the Thais..." "They have no clue...", Which is borderline racist.

The reality is that "Thai" opinion can't be conveniently rolled into a single point of view for you to berate, each Thai is an individual with their own thoughts and feelings on the matter. I guess you don't live in Phuket because it's pretty bloody obvious here that the vast majority of people aren't overreacting, but are getting on with life as normal, albeit wary of future developments.

Very politically correct.

I don't know about majority or not, did not do any polling, but life is going as normal, and I don't see anybody 'wary of future developments'.

Don't know about "politically" but it seems correct to me.

I'm not sure what your getting at, do you expect anyone with any concern over future tsunamis/ quakes to wear a placard around their neck so that you can easily identify them? Or should they file around to your house to lodge their concerns with you?!

It's fairly clear to anyone actually living in Phuket that there is no widespread panic and people are going about life as normal albeit wary of future developments. If you don't feel people are concerned about future earthquakes/ Tsunamis then I suggest you should get out more and talk to some of your fellow Phuketians.