Thailand's village chiefs to get smart phones

[culicine]

What they will do with it?

Play games and watch porn with 3G speed.

No porn as the ICT will be blocking these sites, and probably block gambling sites too.....so I guess village head's will not be so interested in the phones after all

[scorecard]

"used to reporting significant problems, like the haze in the north and the unrest in the south"

So without the village chiefs reporting, it will go unnoticed ?? width=19 alt=whistling.gif>

I you tell people not living here, about the measures by this government, they will think you are lying!

Wonder, who got the contracts for the phones? (No I don't really wonder, know already")

So the gov't, seem to be saying that to report a quick summary / quick comment about the haze (which is all most kumnans would be capable of - they mostly don't have university or advanced science education) to the next level, the local kumnans etc., need to have a smart phone.

I say again, just another budget for the snouts to pig into.

[TomTao]

Playing games is about all the village chief where my wife's son lives will be able to do, there is no mobile coverage there, he will need to get on his bike or in his car and go either a few km's toward Phato or the other way toward Ranong to be able to use the thing, who knows how many other villages there are in a similar situation, whenever there is any type of emergency the villagers have to get the sick or injured person to the hospital themselves, can't call an ambulance on a mobile when there is no signal.

[ETatBKK]

nice, they don't talk to each other anymore, they WhatsApp :- )

( technology never solve a behaviour problem )

[SparklingCascades]

Smart phones for dumb chiefs.

[surangw]

who's getting the kick back on the deal?

[hellodolly]

The on going and predictable examples used as reasoning for purchase of smart phones for 'all state officers' is a very long reach, for a short rake off of funds.The tablets, computers, smart phones, etc has about been run into the ground when handing in budget requests.

I think this is going to be for the small time bureaucrats who were not able to get in to the trough on the rice and flood money and definatly won't be able to get near the 2.2 Trillion baht loan if any one is dumb enough to loan it to them.

How many aps does it take to report there is a flood a meter high in the main street of my village. Or how many aps to report my village is burning down.

Best of all how many for the officials in Chiang Mai and other northern areas to report their is a lot of smoke and smog in the area in the middle of March?

I don't own a smart phone but I can do all those things with my 7 year old dummy phone. Plus just push the star button and it will tell me vocally what time it is I have not seen a smart phone do that yet. They always had to press several buttons to get it to do that. Final result I can tell you what time it is with my phone in bright day light. Can Mr smarty pants smart phone do that?

[Banzai99]

What they will do with it?

Play games and watch porn with 3G speed.

Is that what you would do ?

[fakename]

Smart phone for reporting haze? What will someone do with this report? Yes, this is just to win the vote of the chief's, then they will work to get more votes. Free tablets, free phones, it gets more and more crazy every day.

[surangw]

Smart phone for reporting haze? What will someone do with this report? Yes, this is just to win the vote of the chief's, then they will work to get more votes. Free tablets, free phones, it gets more and more crazy every day.

there is a lot of money to be made giving away "free stuff"

[teetersb]

Nothing like having a direct line from the "Boss" through Tweets and IM's

[noitom]

what do they mean village chiefs??? Do they mean in the government office or all the pu yai in the villages??

Puu Yai. Always Puu Yai.

[Bellweather]

The on going and predictable examples used as reasoning for purchase of smart phones for 'all state officers' is a very long reach, for a short rake off of funds.The tablets, computers, smart phones, etc has about been run into the ground when handing in budget requests.

Might also help distract from complaints about the rice scheme, for a while anyway, but it will take more than a mobile phone to calm anger when it comes to losing real money

[Chicken George]

Now everyone in the villages will be happy with the government.. i.e. will forget the Rice pledge promise..so the smart phone can be used by all in the village or will the pujai baan be the one who takes pics of all the burning in the north? Smart phones are common and I can see no reason to supply them unless it part of a new covert plan by the in the know to spread happiness in the villages.. now will it be a one off or renew every 6 months? <deleted>!! One more year of smog in the north and I will be gone. Maybe.

[thequietman]

For the same budget they could put proper pc's in the officers homes with a printer. If there was any important news that had to be given to villagers, then just print it up and distribute. This would address the infernal noise from the loud speakers everytime there is new news. Practical and cheap. Wait, this makes sense.................. so it won't be implemented.

[nachiket]

What they will do with it?

Play games and watch porn with 3G speed.

No, they can connect it directly to the Village speaker system, so the red propaganda can be spawned more accurately to the uneducated

6am loud and clear.

As, today morning I am reading your comments, and you guys make my day...

[ballpoint]

Get Smart phones? You mean they're all going to be talking into their shoes?

[johnlandy]

jesus wept, as if most of them dont have the dam_n things already

Correct but this deal is not for the smartphones it is for the ability and opportunity to skim money off the top and into the perp's pockets.

[paulmw]

What they will do with it?

Play games and watch porn with 3G speed.

You forgot or maybe sell them.

[SOTIRIOS]

.....perks.....that they can keep and use......even if they are ousted......

....wonder where this money comes from.....and any facts and figures......

[OzMick]

In the 2 villages with which I most familiar, the phu yai are persons with some economic success. In the g/f's village in particular, her aunt is the "mayor" and with her husband owns several successful businesses including a B99 garden restaurant and "motel" style units that do a lot of business while the local uni is in session.

In both cases, the people involved have more than sufficient resources to buy their own smart-phone, and as they are a status symbol, I would be surprised if the didn't already. The necessity for government involvement escapes me except for the obvious - it's another scam.

[looping]

I'm guessing that the government are working on a 2 pronged strategy:

1.Village chiefs brandishing their new phones as a status symbol, looking and feeling important, valued.

2. As a reminder of who owns them.

The government probably heard rumblings of discontent and needed to throw some peanuts to the monkeys!

Basic politics but effective no doubt, they understand what makes people tick, and how to keep people loyal, no matter how absurd the policies.

[Huayrat]

In the 2 villages with which I most familiar, the phu yai are persons with some economic success. In the g/f's village in particular, her aunt is the "mayor" and with her husband owns several successful businesses including a B99 garden restaurant and "motel" style units that do a lot of business while the local uni is in session.

In both cases, the people involved have more than sufficient resources to buy their own smart-phone, and as they are a status symbol, I would be surprised if the didn't already. The necessity for government involvement escapes me except for the obvious - it's another scam.

The pu yai in the village is the one that pays the most money for votes rich or poor... My MIL is the pu yai in her village and is not rich at all but borrowed money to buy the title of pu yai.. not all pu yai are rich or educated as you think..

[recycler]

Somebody will case a nice kickback on these phones!

[Billmont]

"Good morning Khun Yingluck I *Lost* my very smart talking machine, can I have a new one?"

"Here you are my favourite grandson see what grandfather has bought you."

To No 2 wife "Here darling I bought you this but dont tell anyone"

Endless possibilities except of course Official Business! :-)

[marell]

do smart phones make dumb people smarter?

Not sure but they have been known to make some otherwise smart people dumber.

[jimbeam1]

BANGKOK: -- The government is to provide all state officers with smart phones within the next three months to ensure improved communication.

And then I read the rest.
jb1

[ginjag]

BANGKOK: -- The government is to provide all state officers with smart phones within the next three months to ensure improved communication.

And then I read the rest.

jb1

If it said provide all smart officers with phones that would keep expenses at a minimum.

[Shagz]

In the 2 villages with which I most familiar, the phu yai are persons with some economic success. In the g/f's village in particular, her aunt is the "mayor" and with her husband owns several successful businesses including a B99 garden restaurant and "motel" style units that do a lot of business while the local uni is in session.

In both cases, the people involved have more than sufficient resources to buy their own smart-phone, and as they are a status symbol, I would be surprised if the didn't already. The necessity for government involvement escapes me except for the obvious - it's another scam.

The pu yai in the village is the one that pays the most money for votes rich or poor... My MIL is the pu yai in her village and is not rich at all but borrowed money to buy the title of pu yai.. not all pu yai are rich or educated as you think..

Our headman is a pretty good person deep down and is lucky he has a good family to support him but they are mostly just your average farmers with high school education and far from rich, unfortunately he is an alcoholic on the cheap white whisky they drink or moonshine as I call it and has maxed his credit out in every possible direction available to him which would probably come to about 300K or so, he also has 2 assistants which originally they had to team up together to be able to raise 100K to share out to the people to get their votes anyway as far as a smartphone is concerned he couldn't care less about it just as long as he can make and receive calls which his current phone can obviously already do.

[ginjag]

In the 2 villages with which I most familiar, the phu yai are persons with some economic success. In the g/f's village in particular, her aunt is the "mayor" and with her husband owns several successful businesses including a B99 garden restaurant and "motel" style units that do a lot of business while the local uni is in session.

In both cases, the people involved have more than sufficient resources to buy their own smart-phone, and as they are a status symbol, I would be surprised if the didn't already. The necessity for government involvement escapes me except for the obvious - it's another scam.

The pu yai in the village is the one that pays the most money for votes rich or poor... My MIL is the pu yai in her village and is not rich at all but borrowed money to buy the title of pu yai.. not all pu yai are rich or educated as you think..

Our headman is a pretty good person deep down and is lucky he has a good family to support him but they are mostly just your average farmers with high school education and far from rich, unfortunately he is an alcoholic on the cheap white whisky they drink or moonshine as I call it and has maxed his credit out in every possible direction available to him which would probably come to about 300K or so, he also has 2 assistants which originally they had to team up together to be able to raise 100K to share out to the people to get their votes anyway as far as a smartphone is concerned he couldn't care less about it just as long as he can make and receive calls which his current phone can obviously already do.

Bang on, this is typical of 90% of small village Pu Yai, farming, after 6am announcements, that are sure to wake you.

Most villagers tow the line, or they get little benefits that come along. I am guessing Most drink an awful lot of Laos whisky--at 25 bht a bottle over the border in laos, It's brought back by the lorry load, get out of your mind for 10 bht.