Pheu Thai Party Offers Tablets To Thai Students

[hyperdimension]

I'd doubt that Pheu Thai actually did any feasibility study when coming up with this idea. It sounds like it was quickly thought up just days ago (after Thaksin's speech on 23 April 2011) and now announced. It's Thaksin trying to be Santa Claus to win the hearts of the poor. A one-time gift to the people is easier and cheaper than ongoing or life-long welfare programs. I wish that poor families realize what Thaksin is doing.

[khaowong1]

Old tactics used by Taksin to try to buy the vote of Thailand's disenfranchised. What good will tablets do for the students? They are computers and students will use them for games.

And like someone said earlier, you have to know how to read.

[ib1b4]

Firstly, I don't think this will ever happen.. But if it was too happen... They could always restrict the tablet from displaying programs that are not educational.

They could always contact APPLE, as they do have an educational program that is very affordable..

Thank you for making a sensible comment ,

[Lizard2010]

Always hollow promises, but people are vulnerable, they will vote for him.

They always have short memories especially the older voters.

Maybe the younger will see through these promises.

[taurus8]

Thats what we call " Vote Buying"

[bino]

Don't be so negative, everyone.

With the standard of teaching in most Thai schools being under the zero line, it will enable the few kids who want to, to learn.

Indeed Humphrey, it would enable those who want to learn.

It would also provide the "real-time" connection to news, information, images etc that the internet has to offer to the Thai people in the remotest areas.

This kind of access to news information for everyone would be productive towards a truly democratic Thailand. Or... will it be heavily censored / monitored?

[aquaman670]

Maybe you should have had a fancy learnin book when you skipped school. Learn how to spell first, then bitch about something you know nothing about. Give them a comp, <deleted>. Are you paying for it????

[AZBill]

Perfect! Let's take a bunch of students who already lack focus and attention and give them another distraction. E-books? Are you kidding me? Games, social media and internet surfing during class is all this is going to promote. What an idiotic idea, but what do you expect from products of the Thai education system!

[drdoom6996]

Taksin Promised!!!!!. He promised a lot and the country nothing but arrest warrants, coups, and yellow ribbons. After only being here 24 years, If Taksin promised anything I would not get in line to find out what it was.

[AleG]

The One Child One Laptop is one of the best education programs ever, a way of quickly bridging the gap between the uneducated and the educated, if applied correctly.

My country was one of the first (actually the first I think), to reach the goal of having a laptop for every school child and I expect that 10 or 15 years from now this generation of schoolchildren will be a powerhouse for the economy and culture.

Having said that it's not as simple as handing out a computer and be done with it, there's a very significant need for infrastructure (at the very least connectivity and maintenance) and most of all properly trained teachers. Particularly in the last point I think such program would be a failure here as things are now, if children come out of school with bellow minimum skills of classic education (reading, maths, etc, etc...), how can we expect the failing teachers to rise up the pedagogic performance to the 21st century?

That of course besides the point that any Thaksin proposal is not to be taken at face value, Thaksin and PTP would say and do whatever it takes to gain control of the country, and rest assure that the welfare of the children will be out of their scope.

[Gonsalviz]

Several years back one education minister bought computers for all schools. Nevermind that many schools at the time (and probably still some) had no electricity.

[sundaram444]

The Pheu Thai party is offering freebies to get the votes.

In a recent state elections in Tamil Nadu state of South India , the two major parties vying with other offering freebies like lap tops, TVs , and mixers and Dresses , Saris etc.

The ignorant people of this state would vote for these corrupt and looting politicians.

This kind of exploiting by these politicians has been going on for a long time.

The Pheu Thai party leader must have seen this on the Internet and wants to do the same .

The politicians should not offer freebies. Let the people work and earn and buy whatever they need.

Offering free things will create lazy, and useless people , and drunkards and thugs.

[Mousehound]

I speak as someone who ran a computer company for many years and one that believes there are many benefits from useing computers in the classroom. But I have to say that now I am a teacher I am coming to the idea that the downside may well outway the benefits. Sure you need to know how to use them. But this should be restricted to basic skills unless you are going to major in computing and even then a good grounding in English and math is still going to be more valuable in the long run. A a well educated kid can pick these things up fast when they go into further education. The fact is computing is seen as the silver bullet that will give our kids a great education - but actually for many it cements them into a 2nd world where they play games and listen to music. many High School students do badly in exams simply because they can't understand the questions and they don'y have the litteracy skills to write a coherent answer. The IT industry is driven by entertainment - not the desire to really educate. When we are desperate for funds for maintaing schools and paying teachers what is the wisdom of rolling out millions of dollars worth of computers that will need to be replaced in three to four years anyway. In addition to this it is hard to see how all these machines are going to be technically supported. One poorly paid technician (if a school even has one at all) can hardly support 600+ machines with a vast array of printers, networks and software.

A group of wise people under a tree can make better decisions than "IT educated" politicians can in a billion dollar parliament house.

[jfchandler]

Too many good things here:

As for the OP, there was a report the other day that Thaksin's overseas mining and other investments weren't doing so good... Must be looking to get into the tablets business, instead...

But I have a better alternative: Instead of providing tablets that would be largely useless to those who most need them, how about providing a TRAINED TEACHER in each classroom who hasn't bought their degree from some bogus university.... Ohh, right, no kickbacks on that...

As for the phones girl:

--just because she's happily married and a multimillionaire, that doesn't mean she can't also have 5 farang boyfriends on the hook... If she's a hottie, that is..

--and, how did she get to be a "multi-millionaire" if she doesn't know how to use a mobile phone...

--But more importantly, I've never met any Thai woman who doesn't know very well how to use whatever fancy mobile phone they may possess.... They may not know a laptop from a llama....but mobile phones they know...

Sounds a bit strange...

[MILT]

Wow! Where's the high speed internet?

[theanimaster]

I'm a teacher and I think it is utterly disgusting that this blatantly corrupt <snip> scumbag of a politician will willingly flush the country's education system further down the toilet by throwing cheaply manufactured sub-quality products (of which he will most probably be running the company manufacturing them) at the ignorant and uneducated...

He should be giving them iPad2's instead

Edited April 29, 2011 by metisdead
Profanity removed.

[SAffer]

He'd be better off giving them a cheap mobile phone each.

Thais are obsessed with mobile phones they can't get enough of them. I know one girl who has 2 Iphone 4's and 3 BB's!!!!

and very likely 5 farang boyfriends who bought them for her........

I forgot to mention she has an Ipad, 2 Mac laptops.

It's amazing how you guys have a one track mind and class all girls as being like that.

No, she is a friend of my wife. She is a multimillionaire and happily married. She just hasn't a clue how to use the phones.

A 'girl' who is a multimillionaire? (not woman)

Self-made?

Gold-digger?

Sounds like a real smart 'girl'.

Edited April 29, 2011 by SAffer

[AleG]

The Pheu Thai party is offering freebies to get the votes.

In a recent state elections in Tamil Nadu state of South India , the two major parties vying with other offering freebies like lap tops, TVs , and mixers and Dresses , Saris etc.

The ignorant people of this state would vote for these corrupt and looting politicians.

This kind of exploiting by these politicians has been going on for a long time.

The Pheu Thai party leader must have seen this on the Internet and wants to do the same .

The politicians should not offer freebies. Let the people work and earn and buy whatever they need.

Offering free things will create lazy, and useless people , and drunkards and thugs.

Call me crazy, but I don't think children should work to pay for their education, its counter productive. Once the children reach adulthood and start working then have taxes to pay for the education of the next generation of children.

The One Laptop per Child initiative is a good one, but like I said it needs to be properly implemented or else it just turns into an expensive blunder. Unfortunately I don't think the current Thai education system is up to it and I definitely don't expect a Thaksin/PTP/UDD government to make anything out of it neither (besides as a populist or graft opportunity that's it)

[AleG]

Maybe you should have had a fancy learnin book when you skipped school. Learn how to spell first, then bitch about something you know nothing about. Give them a comp, &lt;deleted&gt;. Are you paying for it????

Hmm, yes? I'm paying for it and any other cockamamie scheme politicians come up with.

Some foreigners actually pay taxes here.

[rubl]

Several years back one education minister bought computers for all schools. Nevermind that many schools at the time (and probably still some) had no electricity.

Goh, where do I plug-in the charger for my tablet ? Furthermore what do I use as cooling device, or can it run for hours at a time without overheating?

Edited April 29, 2011 by rubl

[newermonkey]

The cleaver arsehol_e is apealing to kids and teenagers, we all know how much influence they have over rural parents. Obviously the kids all want the new tablet computers (I want one for goodness sakes!) but they dont know anything about this dictator devil and his alter intentions.

[BlackJack]

the new tablets are called Yaba

[jonclark]

"Pheu Thai expects .....that every student can gain access to e-books, he said."

Kids have gotta learning to read first dumbass!

And I sincerely hope that it is not you teaching them Sir.

So do I !!!

[Fremann85]

Old tactics used by Taksin to try to buy the vote of Thailand's disenfranchised. What good will tablets do for the students? They are computers and students will use them for games.

well if the students use it for games that is going to be their computer so they can use it however they like;in the other hand what i would like to see is if Thaksing is really going to give one computer to each student,i got many classmates who dont have the money to affort one of this machines, and when you are studying at university level,computer becomes a very necessary tool for studyin'.

[ableguy]

The really sad thing here is that the uneducated masses here tend to believe everything they hear or read about and so this BS will win votes sounds silly I know.

[sundaram444]

You are absolutely right. Living in a small village in Isaan, I have noticed in Internet

Shops, all the school kids play video games and listen to Thai music.

The poor children not interested in Internet , play cards and other games for money with the parents .

No interest at all to study any books or newspapers.

I have been teaching English to the village children during school time.

Only 3 or 4 students out of the 15 have any interest.

My step daughter and her cousin both studying in an University in Bangkok for BA in English cannot speak or write English very well .

Do you think they would browse Bangkok Post to read the news and learn English?

No. They both want to have parties and listen to music etc.

How would they get a job in any field?

I speak as someone who ran a computer company for many years and one that believes there are many benefits from useing computers in the classroom. But I have to say that now I am a teacher I am coming to the idea that the downside may well outway the benefits. Sure you need to know how to use them. But this should be restricted to basic skills unless you are going to major in computing and even then a good grounding in English and math is still going to be more valuable in the long run. A a well educated kid can pick these things up fast when they go into further education. The fact is computing is seen as the silver bullet that will give our kids a great education - but actually for many it cements them into a 2nd world where they play games and listen to music. many High School students do badly in exams simply because they can't understand the questions and they don'y have the litteracy skills to write a coherent answer. The IT industry is driven by entertainment - not the desire to really educate. When we are desperate for funds for maintaing schools and paying teachers what is the wisdom of rolling out millions of dollars worth of computers that will need to be replaced in three to four years anyway. In addition to this it is hard to see how all these machines are going to be technically supported. One poorly paid technician (if a school even has one at all) can hardly support 600+ machines with a vast array of printers, networks and software.

A group of wise people under a tree can make better decisions than "IT educated" politicians can in a billion dollar parliament house.

[Fremann85]

Don't be so negative, everyone.

With the standard of teaching in most Thai schools being under the zero line, it will enable the few kids who want to, to learn. The rest can play computer games, look up their local yaa-baa dealer or contribute to ThaiVisa.

agree with you

[theanimaster]

He'd be better off giving them a cheap mobile phone each.

Thais are obsessed with mobile phones they can't get enough of them. I know one girl who has 2 Iphone 4's and 3 BB's!!!!

and very likely 5 farang boyfriends who bought them for her........

I forgot to mention she has an Ipad, 2 Mac laptops.

It's amazing how you guys have a one track mind and class all girls as being like that.

No, she is a friend of my wife. She is a multimillionaire and happily married. She just hasn't a clue how to use the phones.

A 'girl' who is a multimillionaire? (not woman)

Self-made?

Gold-digger?

Sounds like a real smart 'girl'.

You guys have obviously not been married to any elite Thais. It's called inheritance/support from their rich mommy and daddy. Most of the hi-so class are like this: utterly ignorant and incompetent when it comes to technology... education only comes within their inner circles. Some Thais don't need to lift a finger in their life to become multi-millionaries. Just look at Thaksin's mongrels

[MILT]

The Pheu Thai party is offering freebies to get the votes.

In a recent state elections in Tamil Nadu state of South India , the two major parties vying with other offering freebies like lap tops, TVs , and mixers and Dresses , Saris etc.

The ignorant people of this state would vote for these corrupt and looting politicians.

This kind of exploiting by these politicians has been going on for a long time.

The Pheu Thai party leader must have seen this on the Internet and wants to do the same .

The politicians should not offer freebies. Let the people work and earn and buy whatever they need.

Offering free things will create lazy, and useless people , and drunkards and thugs.

Call me crazy, but I don't think children should work to pay for their education, its counter productive. Once the children reach adulthood and start working then have taxes to pay for the education of the next generation of children.

The One Laptop per Child initiative is a good one, but like I said it needs to be properly implemented or else it just turns into an expensive blunder. Unfortunately I don't think the current Thai education system is up to it and I definitely don't expect a Thaksin/PTP/UDD government to make anything out of it neither (besides as a populist or graft opportunity that's it)

Your Crazeeeeee and have to agree with you but does that now make me crazeeeee?

[Phuket Stan]

Wow! Where's the high speed internet?

Khun Thaksin will sort that out....after all he did promise to make Phuket the IT hub of SE Asia in another of his brain blanks about 8 or 9 years ago....we are still waiting for this inflow of money to turn the place into Silicon Valley