Ricardo Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Thailand is currently relatively well-off economically-speaking, so why on earth would they need financing as this offer suggests, to achieve what they've already decided-upon and budgeted ? Who buys on-credit, when they can get a cash-discount ? Something doesn't add up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dude007 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 very smart from the Chinese: they catch two flies in one stroke: 1. good for their own business in supplying cheap low quality tablet computers; 2. Keep the Thai people dumb so that vote buying can go on (probably a whispered idea from Yingluck Sinawatra when she visited China...). Because when vote buying is over, there will be a totally new political picture and balance in the country, and not in favour of the ruling PT party and the Shinawatra-cronies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuhnPaen Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 And 50% of those tablets will be pawned, "Lost", gambled, stolen, traded, etc....(hopefully the teacher will collect them at the end of class) I always find it charming when I go to Sisaket and see a shack on stilts, with no running water, yet it has a satellite TV dish on the roof. In a country where most people don't own a car, cel phones and Ipads are THE status symbol. A girl I know spent nearly 27,000 baht on the newest ipad just so she could use facebook and play Angry birds. I even offered to buy her one for half the price in the States and send it to her, but she had to have it now. Just had to. Man, I miss early 90's pre-internet Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsujin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 More 'business' between Thailand and China. Anyone else see a shifting away from the USA and towards China, or is it just me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whybother Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Thailand is currently relatively well-off economically-speaking, so why on earth would they need financing as this offer suggests, to achieve what they've already decided-upon and budgeted ? Who buys on-credit, when they can get a cash-discount ? Something doesn't add up here. Because they've spent all their money on rice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsujin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 It's quite simple, the more loans or schemes they can run, the more the greedy lying bastards can skim off the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osiboy Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 seems to me the biggest crime here is the thai govt; not listening to the advice of their scholars/achademics who only last week advised the education system to move away from computers and learn how to read first !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancelot Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 More 'business' between Thailand and China. Anyone else see a shifting away from the USA and towards China, or is it just me? Maybe. I see it more as playing the super powers and getting the best deal possible. Currently Thailand is sitting pretty with respect to external threats; however, if she felt threatened by China, the USA would suddenly become her best bud. All countries act in their own self interests 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kruangfaifar Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 My biggest worry , what strings are attached to this kind gesture, China has a reputation of riding rough shod over feel good endeavours hence the Burmese seeing the light. There are always strings attached to such loans. It called "Export Promotion" as practiced by US Exim bank, JBIC and others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeycountry Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I think all this borrowing is a great idea no matter who steals the money. Once Thailand reaches the debt level of Greece and the country can no longer borrow money, half the country will be laid off. My guess is that a large proportion of the laid off female workers will then go find a job in Nana, Cowboy or Pattaya - and I will be there to welcome them :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
car720 Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 One consideration..............even if we don't consider the Chinese learning from the Yanks how to sell hardware to scheming Thais................what about elder brother or sister as soon as the tablet goes home from school.....and it will...........it will disappear into the void...........and then what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotary Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Thailand should take a look at what the USA has done, and do just the opposite. The USA has borrowed money from China in the trillions of dollars. If you do not have it do not spend it. Something that I hope the yanks will agree with and show on election day with a "change of the guard". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Rice Balls Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 as the chinese secretly activate the webcams to watch over the "future"of LOS and steal all of its hidden secrets little do they know they will just know the outcome of last nights lakorn soap opera and the latest kpop gossip i wouldnt lend either party a grain of rice...but thats just me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assayer Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I really thought that I remembered Thaksin saying he would buy every first grader a tablet if he was re-elected!! Why does Thailand need a loan to buy them if he is?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metisdead Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 An off topic post has been removed as well as the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanferdi Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I really hope they don't do this. The cheap tablet market is not yet a mature one; they're destined to improve massively in the next few years and it would be awful if Thailand was left repaying debt for "early adopter" type tablets. It's also true that there is very little educational material made for these tablets just yet. SLOW DOWN! Tablets are not a very wise way to go. In the Western world people are taught disciplines for the childs motoristic development - Drawing, writing and describing things....simply pointing at things does not make a child clever.... these tablets are not at all educational unless under supervision.. Children learn well even what we adults think are impossible. Teach them to write, draw and sing the normal way and when they are older, get them to discipline themselves to type... simply pointing will make children less clever. Learn to read using a tab.... whats the value the cost can cover more books for distribution Learning to draw cannot be replaced with some digital snik schnak... chinese or apple! Learning to write one needs to be old school here, Learning to do Mathematics.... simply help children to use their cognitive disciplines.... we will churn lazy kids who cannot work out simple maths without all the aids. Complexity is not worth the price for the values that are learned when taught normally. Get clever ..... do not simply put on a show... the politicians are good at making their next generation look privilaged... when in reality they will look even more stupid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpkin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Traditional Chinese Medicine. Keep taking the Tablets ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpkin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 as the chinese secretly activate the webcams to watch over the "future"of LOS and steal all of its hidden secrets little do they know they will just know the outcome of last nights lakorn soap opera and the latest kpop gossip i wouldnt lend either party a grain of rice...but thats just me You think the Chinese are interested in which specific game the children are currently playing on their tablets? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumpkin Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 More 'business' between Thailand and China. Anyone else see a shifting away from the USA and towards China, or is it just me? The Amricans have been shiftng their "business" away from the USA for a long time. Ask WalMart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockman Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Do not forget that anybody who is anybody in Thailand. Comes from Chinese stock originaly. And control evrything that happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smedly Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I get the impression This country has serious money problems, the only way they can keep going is to ask China for a loan, as I keep saying - current debt levels are not reported and government officials tell white lies when it comes to releasing economic figures, after this recent reshuffle there's a new line up of ministers ready to fill their pockets - could this turn out to be the greatest theft in human history, the opposition should call for a full audit of goverment funds since PT took office - that is how the Dems could expose this debacle for what it is. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post lizardtongue Posted October 31, 2012 Popular Post Share Posted October 31, 2012 Panita said if Thailand accepted the offer, it could procure tablets for all students and gradually repay the debt later. By which time there will have been a change of government and you can kiss your money good bye! The Office of Basic Education Commission's secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat said his agency was exploring measures to encourage private/government teachers to develop content for tablets. You would have thought that the content etc for these tablets would have been approved long before any order was put forward? But I guess as other posts have suggested the slightest hint of being able to skim a few million Baht over rides anything else! "We may hold contests or promote the teachers' academic ranks," Roughly translated, "How much can you pay me to get you promoted" What should/could have happened is that the Education Minister gets a budget to buy 'tablets' to be initially be used in a 'pilot scheme' if this scheme can be shown to be beneficial to the students then the following fiscal year he gets more money to spend, simple as that? The problem here is that the corruption is so endemic that the person controlling the purse strings is reluctant to approve the funds because they feel that they are missing out on a scam! Sad thing is they are probably right! Off the top of my head next year we can look forward to, F1 being held in Bangkok, The film industry filming all over the place, bilingual tourist cops, pre screening at swampy, no more late licenses being granted, the 'war' in the south ending, corruption being thwarted, 300 cycle stations in place around Bangkok, pollution free buses, all the illegal doctor's surgeries shut down, police on 'motorcade duties' looking smarter and actually knowing what they are doing, Bangkok being flood free, free tablets for all school children and the rice problem being sorted out! And the chances of any of this actually happening are? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizardtongue Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I get the impression This country has serious money problems, the only way they can keep going is to ask China for a loan, as I keep saying - current debt levels are not reported and government officials tell white lies when it comes to releasing economic figures, after this recent reshuffle there's a new line up of ministers ready to fill their pockets - could this turn out to be the greatest theft in human history, the opposition should call for a full audit of goverment funds since PT took office - that is how the Dems could expose this debacle for what it is. If it hasn't already got money problems, the way things are being run it soon will have! One thing I do not totally agree with is your comment is about asking China for a loan, I am sure that the word 'loan' does not exist in the Thai language, I think it translates into 'gift'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konini Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 Win-win for China: provide the product and the financing. That's how the Chinese do it now, it's been this way for a lot of years and most people are only sitting up and noticing now. Of course, they will expect Thailand to support them in whatever they want to do in the region, that goes without saying, but as someone said earlier in the thread, these things only come from China with strings attached. The expected support isn't a hidden string, it's a given. What the strings are, who alone knows; but we can be certain they won't be beneficial to the receiver of the loans or goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konini Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 What about the kids at orphanee´s ? They can not go to local schools, and they do only have limited teachers at site ! They would have a lot out of such tablets ! Whoa - orphaned children aren't allowed to go to local schools? Surely not? Please someone tell me that's incorrect. I can't believe that the most needy of all children are denied an education. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Udox Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 What started as an election 'vote-buying' promise is now in danger of turning into a very serious problem. Borrowing more money to buy more tablets, when the country is already hundreds of billions in debt is nuts! This whole scheme is (in my opinion) completely un- needed and these people need to stop playing with 'gadgets' and get back to bloody basics. Good basic education comes first - above everything and anything else. A tablet and those things associated with it (smart phones etc) are simply an aid, once the basics are in place. An electronic screen with pre-programmed drivel isn't any substitute for a teacher - teaching ! I fear that that this is going to escalate as Mis Pretty tries to prove herself to the country - at whatever cost and by any means. Everyone knows that when you want something and are afraid of others recations (your wife, for example) - you drop it into the conversation somewhere, knowing darn well that somewhere down the line, you are going to have it. I did the same when I bought my new superbike. it started with a comment "oh thats a nice bike" - knowing full well the seed was sown and I was going to have it sometime in the near future. Miss pretty has started sowing the seed. The Chinese seed. Wait for China to reap the harvest. No matter what you, me or any of her advisors say - do you think it will make any difference? Remember the old saying? ........ It seemed a good idea at the time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubl Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 TabletPCs, education, novel approaches. Here an interesting read: "A bold experiment by the One Laptop Per Child organization has shown "encouraging" results. By David Talbot on October 29, 2012 With 100 million first-grade-aged children worldwide having no access to schooling, the One Laptop Per Child organization is trying something new in two remote Ethiopian villages—simply dropping off tablet computers with preloaded programs and seeing what happens." http://www.technolog...ach-themselves/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricardo Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Thailand is currently relatively well-off economically-speaking, so why on earth would they need financing as this offer suggests, to achieve what they've already decided-upon and budgeted ? Who buys on-credit, when they can get a cash-discount ? Something doesn't add up here. Because they've spent all their money on rice. But surely they expect to get it all back, and even make a profit, when they finally sell it way-above world-prices, to customers desperate for hom-mali like ... erm ... and ... erm ... etcetera ? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Panita said if Thailand accepted the offer, it could procure tablets for all students and gradually repay the debt later. By which time there will have been a change of government and you can kiss your money good bye! The Office of Basic Education Commission's secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat said his agency was exploring measures to encourage private/government teachers to develop content for tablets. You would have thought that the content etc for these tablets would have been approved long before any order was put forward? But I guess as other posts have suggested the slightest hint of being able to skim a few million Baht over rides anything else! "We may hold contests or promote the teachers' academic ranks," Roughly translated, "How much can you pay me to get you promoted" What should/could have happened is that the Education Minister gets a budget to buy 'tablets' to be initially be used in a 'pilot scheme' if this scheme can be shown to be beneficial to the students then the following fiscal year he gets more money to spend, simple as that? The problem here is that the corruption is so endemic that the person controlling the purse strings is reluctant to approve the funds because they feel that they are missing out on a scam! Sad thing is they are probably right! Off the top of my head next year we can look forward to, F1 being held in Bangkok, The film industry filming all over the place, bilingual tourist cops, pre screening at swampy, no more late licenses being granted, the 'war' in the south ending, corruption being thwarted, 300 cycle stations in place around Bangkok, pollution free buses, all the illegal doctor's surgeries shut down, police on 'motorcade duties' looking smarter and actually knowing what they are doing, Bangkok being flood free, free tablets for all school children and the rice problem being sorted out! And the chances of any of this actually happening are? You forgot cleaning up the drug problem and rehabilitating the current addicts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keesters Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 My biggest worry , what strings are attached to this kind gesture, China has a reputation of riding rough shod over feel good endeavours hence the Burmese seeing the light. Only thing straight about a Chinaman is his hair :-) And we all know the ethnic origins of most of the people in power and the rich in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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