Senior Thai officials to get taxpayer funded iPhones

[webfact]

 

Thailand’s secretariat of the Cabinet has allocated some Bt2.6 million of taxpayers’ money to buy 111 iPhones for its high-ranking officials, citing efficiency and good governance, but attracting considerable public criticism as well.

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who is eligible to receive one as head of the Cabinet, has forgone this particular privilege.

 

After the procurement document went viral and drew criticism on Tuesday, an advisor at the prime minister’s office, Nattariya Taweewong, explained that smartphones issued to the office’s executives are due to be changed, hence the purchase.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/senior-thai-officials-to-get-taxpayer-funded-iphones/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-11-24

 

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[tomacht8]

23423 Baht per piece.

Are these originals?

Or China Copies?

 

 

[lujanit]

I'm sure they get a lot more than iPhones.  They just don't want to tell us about it.

[ezzra]

Those "senior officials" can buy a 10,000 iPhones and still have many millions left in the bank, that how much they need them...

[AhFarangJa]

I believe it could be a deliberate leaking of news to act as a diversion. While citizens are questioning the drop in the ocean figure of 2.6 million Baht, they are not looking at the BILLIONS of Baht that are siphoned off every year into other "pockets".......

[RafPinto]

Tomorrow's news:

 

We apologise for the "printing error".

 

It should have said:

Senior Thai officials to get taxpayer funded 

Huaweis.

 

[Stocky]

57 minutes ago, tomacht8 said:

23423 Baht per piece.

Are these originals?

Or China Copies?

 

 

iPhonies at that price

[Gottfrid]

Yeah! That´s why the country will always be at a stand still. It´s accepted for people to take advantage of their positions and pay what they need with tax payer money instead of their fat salaries. These people can afford to buy their own phones.

If they were to put all the unnecessary spending in funds for old people, maybe the families can have a better standard and not have to live a life paying for others.

[RafPinto]

Not the smartest, working for the government.

 

They won't notice the difference.

[RafPinto]

I just put my name on the list for the "iphone 26", coming out in 2025.

 

 

[webfact]

PM’s Secretariat Buys 111 iPhone Devices

 

 

BANGKOK, Nov 24 (TNA) – The secretariat of the prime minister spent 2.6 million baht on 111 iPhone devices because the procurement was due to replace old phones, according to an advisor to the prime minister.

 

Natreeya Thaweewong, the advisor, said that the prime minister’s secretariat ordered the phones for its executives who needed such devices and the contracted price was lower than the median price of 2.8 million baht.

 

According to her, the newly ordered phones have the specifications that the secretariat needs for use by executives at the level of directors and higher.

 

Full story: https://tna.mcot.net/english-news-829953

 

-- © Copyright TNA 2021-11-24

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow ASEAN NOW on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

[Willy Wombat]

Isn’t it good to be a fat pig in the trough

[RafPinto]

China won't like this deal.

 

Is Thailand not trusting the Chinese anymore? Spying?

[tomacht8]

That's not a good idea. 111 phones only. All officials who get one are then super VIPs who run the country. What about the other officers who didn't get one and who believed they were VIPs? There is bound to be envy and disapproval, among those who didn’t get one. 

Ultimately, it's a mark / symbol of how important each are. One or the other general will definitely be pi$$ed off.

[trainman34014]

'Efficiency' and 'Good Governance' have never been on the Menu for Civil Servants in Thailand; especially Senior 'Officials', as they love to call themselves.    More money wasted when half of the country is wondering where the money for a next meal is coming from !

[tomacht8]

7 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

'Efficiency' and 'Good Governance' have never been on the Menu for Civil Servants in Thailand; especially Senior 'Officials', as they love to call themselves.    More money wasted when half of the country is wondering where the money for a next meal is coming from !

In principle you are right, but 2.8 million THB is nothing in comparison to the other billions of expenditures for questionable state projects where parts of the money evaporates in a wonderful way and nobody knows where it has gone.

[jacko45k]

Interesting, Police buy their own guns, high officials are gifted phones and watches, and some police get free Ferraris....  one messed up place!

[klauskunkel]

Does it have a bigger screen to better watch illegal porn online?

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Thailand’s secretariat of the Cabinet has allocated some Bt2.6 million of taxpayers’ money to buy 111 iPhones for its high-ranking officials

.............................while the deliberately made poor, destitute, jobless and homeless get handouts from farangs 

[OneMoreFarang]

That's good news. Because now all those phones are owned by the tax payers. So the tax-payers, we, should get regular updates from the data of those phones. Where did they go? Show the GPS coordinates. Publish the meta data of their phone conversations, text messages, etc. I am sure that would be interesting information.

[aussiexpat]

I don't understand why this is unusual? When I was working I was always updated with the latest phone so why shouldn't the 111 most senior officials in Government be given one?

 

It's $75,000, peanuts for a government

 

[Will B Good]

From 2013

 

All students will receive free tablet computers as part of the second phase of the government's "One Tablet PC Per Child" policy by December, Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng says.

 

Hope they can wait 8 years for their iPhones.

 

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s secretariat of the Cabinet has allocated some Bt2.6 million of taxpayers’ money to buy 111 iPhones for its high-ranking officials, citing efficiency and good governance, but attracting considerable public criticism as well.

Good Governance.  Are they allowed to use them for everything and anything, are they restricted for only business related calls and work.  In my prior life, my issued phone was restricted to use only for business related work calls etc.  Once a week I would be notified by the IT unit they had found suspicious activity on my phone and that I had used the phone to call my own house phone.  I was reminded the phone was not for personal business (PB), but for work related content only.  To say the least I took that phone and tried to return it to the IT unit who had issued it out. They said I had to keep it and upon either separation or moving to a new location they would retain the phone and give it to my replacement since it was on that units inventory.  I had one of my own office techs at the time forward the number for that phone to my personal one, and I removed the battery and stuck it in my top drawer.

 

However, this is Thailand and their personal use of the telephone will never be looked at, just another phone for them to have like the many phones the girls have, one for each boyfriend....lol

[chickenslegs]

IMHO they need upgrading for better screen definition ...

(Remember this Thai MP during a budget debate)

[ThailandRyan]

42 minutes ago, chickenslegs said:

IMHO they need upgrading for better screen definition ...

(Remember this Thai MP during a budget debate)

Oh he needs an upgrade he only had the low level Gik-A-Phone

[Burma Bill]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

111 iPhones for its high-ranking officials,

Well I never - maybe they can now check in/check out via QR Codes!!!!!!

[inactiveposter]

Someone is going to have upgrade their watch collection to smart watches.

[Will B Good]

1 minute ago, inactiveposter said:

Someone is going to have upgrade their watch collection to smart watches.

He'll have a friend who has a spare one he can borrow, I'm sure.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand’s secretariat of the Cabinet has allocated some Bt2.6 million of taxpayers’ money to buy 111 iPhones for its high-ranking officials, citing efficiency and good governance, but attracting considerable public criticism as well.

Surely that would be better spent on giving school kids access to tech equipment so they can study.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, RafPinto said:

China won't like this deal.

 

Is Thailand not trusting the Chinese anymore? Spying?

CIA aren't so squeaky clean either.