Mps Are Told Of Troubles With Computer Tablets: Thailand

[borovik]

Only 700 schools out of 30,000 have Internet connectivity. A good example of how much infrastructure Thailand needs. How could they order all those tablets before setting up wifi nodes? What a backwards priority.

It is little bit out of topic,but it answers you Noitom:

couple of weeks ago there was interesting show in BBC about impact of hi-tech gadgets on life in the 3rd world countries.

It was mostly about smartphones,laptops,iphones,ipads and tablets.

You see people using them everywhere,even in very remote and rural places without electricity,far from electric grid.

People need them ,they make biz more efficient,social life more fluid...

And there was a question:

how people charge these gadgets without electricity available there?

Gadgets consume little energy - this is a fact;so people can use alternative sources of electricity like solar panels,wind,micro-hydro,diesel generators.But the most popular are ...car batteries.They do not have electric grid,but 4WD jeeps come everywhere.

So,this is the way it works in reality - car batteries.

At the end of the show they made interesting for us here - observation:

about tablets!

In rural schools with no electricity, tablets are being used as a display devices instead of projectors or big monitors;bingo!

Buchholz! school bags with solar panel for every child in your poor school?Think about it!They are also ...Made In China.

In fact - solar panels are big thing in China export.

[JurgenG]

"It's apples and oranges, it's absolutely meaningless." you said before ?

Price, specifications, quality and status are related. Especially with small consumer goods. When you buy a 300 Baht watch you do not expect it to last more than a year, with a real Rolex you do. A cheap tabletPc can last longer with proper care. Now that's not something you'd expect from P1 school kids. They try for sure but tend to be accident prone, easily distracted.

Again you're talking apples and oranges

I can buy a very good watch for 300 Bahts. Some watches you buy retail for a couple of thousands Bahts cost much less than 300 Bahts.

You take a 300 Bahts watch (price from factory), add 150 B of packaging and 150 for marketing and you sell it for more than 5,000 B

The watches we buy for promotion, but still should last more than one year, cost less than 30 Bahts.

I'm afraid you've have absolutely no idea of the margin wholesalers and retailers are taking.

[cup-O-coffee]

I see lot sof things passing here, but for this I am going to respond. My daughter has also a One Tabler Per Child because she is in Grade 1. All her friends in G1 had their parents coming to school and all had to sign and after that all tablets went home. I have looked at it, and the battery lasts for 3 or 4 hours but as far as I know that's normal for tablets (sorry when I am wrong, I am not a tablet expert). The only problem I have is that for installing an apps I need to have installed google store but to do this I am asked to give a password. The director of the school told me that the goverment will soon have a meeting with school in this region for questions etc. My question will be about this password.

The educational games that are on it come in handy now for this agegroup, but when this tablet lasts longer we have to update some of it, and I guess for this a password is needed too.

I have seen loads of advertisements about tablets and around 4,000 baht you can already buy a good one (the Google made tablet is around this price). And I have so far no real complaints about this OTPC from the Thai goverment.

I am sorry to say, but I think some of you guys grab all the news to spread out your negative opinions. But don't blame the goverment for everything that goes wrong in your own life. When your wife is a bad cook don't complain at the shop where she bought the material.

It seems that you still have some questions unanswered concerning these tablets. I assume that you can handle those questions because you have experience using computers. Not all kids have parents who know how to use a computer or can help their child when needed.

What if this tablet would be the first computer the family has ever used/owned? Then the learning curve would be very steep I guess. And the help the parent could give would be very limited.

You just won't let it go will you. Incredible.

I think Nickymaster has a legitimate grumble. If I may; we are describing "putting technology into the hands of people". Using what I see around me, it is fair and reasonable to infer that most Thais take the technology already in their possession and do not using that technology for its intended purpose, or in fact do use it for its intended purpose, but at a rate or method which brings about damage, danger loss and harm to themselves and those around them.

Transportation is a good example (see 100,000 THB rebates). Look at their behavior and skills on the roads with the technology provided them from other countries?

Any good that is being brought up in this discussion is always more than likely to be of the imagined kind (if they... maybe it will... only if... I simply hope that...). On the other hand, any actual results are usually consequential when it involved people using technology, whereas those people lack the skills to do so. Further added to that, when these people demonstrate an alacrity for carelessness and outright stupidity with other technologies already within their possession, it is legitimate to infer that these tablets will come to no general good for the population who are in possession of them.

This issue will be forgotten in a few months other than being a joke as an example of future shenanigans that the Thais demonstrate when they go "solution" shopping. And I suspect that in the near future we will not see any positive change in the intelligence or behavior level of the youth that can be directly related or credited back to any small percentage of these tablets.

Edited October 13, 2012 by cup-O-coffee

[JurgenG]

It seems that you still have some questions unanswered concerning these tablets. I assume that you can handle those questions because you have experience using computers. Not all kids have parents who know how to use a computer or can help their child when needed.

What if this tablet would be the first computer the family has ever used/owned? Then the learning curve would be very steep I guess. And the help the parent could give would be very limited.

Where do you live ? In which country it is parents who teach children how to use computer ?

I was talking on the phone two days ago with my sister back home and she was telling me how she was struggling with her iPad when her daughter (12 y.o.) took it from her hands with a "Mum, you're so stupid !" and teached her how to use it.

And not so long ago, on the news there was this story about this Thai kid who was selling stuff in restaurants at night and for a few bucks was teaching people how to use their latest smart phone.

[broomstickdoris]

Gee - some schools have their tablets already, after waiting 6 months. Hope all the problems are ironed out by the time our school gets theirs! And according to an article in the Bangkok Post a few weeks ago, 2% of the tablets are faulty, which is apparently acceptable! So I hope that 2% is neatly spread all over Thailand and not in one particular district - but that still doesn't help the child or the teacher with tablets that don't work.

Technology is great WHEN IT IS WORKING!

[Thai at Heart]

You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. Poor choice of hardware

Poor choice of hardware ? Could you please explain ?

I don't say you're wrong, I just would like to have more details about this deal and why do you think the hardware should be considered as the cause of the troubles.

Who or what else? Are you looking for another reason to blame the Thai government? The mistake was made when they decided to order that sh.t from China. But since that had happened - you have to blame the Chinese company or the hardware ... who or what else could have caused that actual trouble?

Is there any other country after China with a production line for tablets? I think you will find 99% of all tablets are manufactured there.

[Colabamumbai]

Has more to do with the person in authority who ordered the tablets from China and how much he received as a kickback for giving the company the contract for the supply. What's his name?

[Moruya]

i see a lot of moaning but i don't see many same cost alternatives being shouted out.....

for the tablets i mean.

Hmmm, how about no tablets? The money would have been better spent on school modernization.

hmmm, i think we're past that point now though don't you?

i'm referring to people complaing about the quality yet have no alternatives.

Asus Nexus

[Buchholz]

You don't understand that I was replying to Al007's post.

Try reading again what he wrote and what I wrote and perhaps you'll understand better.

I understand very well. You put together in the same sentence two prices that have no relation with each others and try to make a point with that.

Apples and oranges.

I stick with that.

(sorry I'd to cut out Rubl post because the system doesn't allow me so many quotes)

Sorry, but you are still not understanding.

Unfortunately you completely failed to read that my response was to Al007's post mentioning that China makes iPads and iPads are good quality.

You're sticking to it, but it's being stuck in your misunderstanding.

My point was addressing Al007's apples and oranges with iPads versus ScoPads.

Hope that can help you.

.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Buchholz

[Buchholz]

Someone that understands.

Take note, Jurgen.

Someone who tries to help you out, it's a bit different .

Price and specifications, clearly there is a relation that the end user should expect.

But price and quality, sorry, no.

Do you expect because you buy a "cheap" car, that your car won't work properly ? No, of course not. You expect it to have less accessories, to be less powerful, more basic functions, more basic design ... but still to work properly and most of all, that your safety hasn't be compromised. That's why we have all these rules and regulations.

Apple uses top of the range parts and top of the range marketing and retail network. You pay the price for that, especially if you talk about retail price. The government has selected a basic tablet and placed a huge order directly to the factory. The price is reasonable if you take that into account

That's why your price comparison is meaningless. Actually, comparing the two products is meaningless.

Now you are beginning to understand my post....

problem is that your post is a bit misdirected.

Al007's post on comparing the two products was meaningless and that was what I was addressing in my post.

.

[Buchholz]

Buchholz! school bags with solar panel for every child in your poor school?Think about it!They are also ...Made In China.

In fact - solar panels are big thing in China export.

I agree.

The Education Ministry should buy 900,000 solar-paneled school bags.

That will go a long way in improving education in Thailand.

.

[Ferangled]

"It's apples and oranges, it's absolutely meaningless." you said before ?

Price, specifications, quality and status are related. Especially with small consumer goods. When you buy a 300 Baht watch you do not expect it to last more than a year, with a real Rolex you do. A cheap tabletPc can last longer with proper care. Now that's not something you'd expect from P1 school kids. They try for sure but tend to be accident prone, easily distracted.

Yes much better to give primary school children over priced iPads then?! What would that be? 10x the actual budget?

Sorry to say it but IMHO the iPad is massively overpriced and the scopad is a much better fit for use in schools.

[Screws]

The panel was also told that the battery-charging cords are sub-standard and pose a risk of power leakage and electric shock.

That's rather disconcerting.

.

"disconcerting"? Heck it could be fatal.

All schools should be fitted with ELCBs.

Oh, and they should be switched on.

[TommoPhysicist]

Is there any other country after China with a production line for tablets? I think you will find 99% of all tablets are manufactured there.

Samsung tablets, one of the most popular in the world, made in Korea with some input from Vietnam. As far as I know those countries are not part of China. India also produce a lot of cheap tablets.

Edited October 13, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[Buchholz]

Has more to do with the person in authority who ordered the tablets from China and how much he received as a kickback for giving the company the contract for the supply. What's his name?

ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap (shown below with the OTP10C tablets)

perhaps as part of that repackaging, they could address the inaccuracy of OTPC that pledged 11 million children would receive a tablet.... only about 1 in 10 will.

.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Buchholz

[nurofiend]

i see a lot of moaning but i don't see many same cost alternatives being shouted out.....

for the tablets i mean.

Hmmm, how about no tablets? The money would have been better spent on school modernization.

hmmm, i think we're past that point now though don't you?

i'm referring to people complaing about the quality yet have no alternatives.

Asus Nexus

maybe you can give them a loan of your crystal ball too while your at it..

jesus

[stingray]

"Made in China"

[attrayant]

You are from USA,so you do not know this phenomena:internet cafe.

All around Thailand you will find them.There is no magic about it - just biz opportunity.

Since the year - 2000,they mushroomed everywhere in all nakhonnowheres,who are customers?backpackers? - no ! local schoolboys and girls playing on-line games and doing school homeworks.What they play? - the most popular is now Wacraft,before - it was ,,,"Grand Theft Auto"

And who gave them internet access? was it MAGIC?

Man! open your eyes,open your mind! there is life here without you.

In every post office in Thailand they have internet terminal for customers since circa 1997.

Eva Pascoe opened her internet cafe in BKK about 1994 and she was not the first.

In school you do not need massive internet access through wi-fi;you need it only for technical reasons.

Tablets run applications without wi-fi.

Of course we have Internet cafes in the USA. We also have massive infrastructure projects to put wifi in schools. It is a learning aid, whether you think so or not. That is why schools all over the world are investing in wifi for their classrooms.

What are you suggesting, that an entire class just get up and go to a nearby Starbucks whenever a lesson they're working on could potentially benefit from Internet access? How many people do you think those cafes hold? And they're almost always full when I pass by anyway. "Sorry kids, the Starbucks is too crowded. We'll have to put the lesson on hold for today."

I seriously doubt that cafe would appreciate hoards of students showing up every day just to mooch on their wifi. Those businesses put wifi in place to attract paying customers.

In every post office in Thailand they have internet terminal for customers since circa 1997.

There is something deliciously ironic about needing to go to the nearest post office to check your email.

[connda]

....anddddd, no surprises here! I think from the minute the Computer Tablet scheme was released to the news agencies, Thai Visa members were busy predicting this end result.

Yep, the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Ha! Good intentions on the surface. But underneath the underbelly of this scheme is the normal greasy corruption. A few folk got their pockets lined with cash, lots of pictures and hand-shaking and brown-nosing, status seeking was accomplished, and the real losers -- tax payers and children.

Anything to back your post ?

Or you just want to illustrate the other thread (http://www.thaivisa....of-hate-speech/) with some practical examples ?

[JeffreyMcCollum]

The TOT spent Bt200 million to hire a private company to make software to prevent the children from accessing to pornographic sites, the panel was told.

How come this little caveat was hiding. Of course, if the things are only many to be used at school, a network based solution could have been more than feasible.

Wouldent the money have been better spent making safe recharging cords.

Come on Folks these are Prathom 1 students under supposed supervision.

While I don't think anyone is surprised, I think all the funds would have been better spent on upgrading schools as well as teachers

[ginjag]

The TOT spent Bt200 million to hire a private company to make software to prevent the children from accessing to pornographic sites, the panel was told.

How come this little caveat was hiding. Of course, if the things are only many to be used at school, a network based solution could have been more than feasible.

Wouldent the money have been better spent making safe recharging cords.

Come on Folks these are Prathom 1 students under supposed supervision.

While I don't think anyone is surprised, I think all the funds would have been better spent on upgrading schools as well as teachers

Election pledge---after thought on how to implement--had to get to buying them--a bit of back hand money here and there, saving face, under pressure to see it through, now the problems start.

[TheKrayTriplet]

Only 700 schools out of 30,000 have Internet connectivity. A good example of how much infrastructure Thailand needs. How could they order all those tablets before setting up wifi nodes? What a backwards priority.

It is little bit out of topic,but it answers you Noitom:

couple of weeks ago there was interesting show in BBC about impact of hi-tech gadgets on life in the 3rd world countries.

It was mostly about smartphones,laptops,iphones,ipads and tablets.

You see people using them everywhere,even in very remote and rural places without electricity,far from electric grid.

People need them ,they make biz more efficient,social life more fluid...

And there was a question:

how people charge these gadgets without electricity available there?

Gadgets consume little energy - this is a fact;so people can use alternative sources of electricity like solar panels,wind,micro-hydro,diesel generators.But the most popular are ...car batteries.They do not have electric grid,but 4WD jeeps come everywhere.

So,this is the way it works in reality - car batteries.

At the end of the show they made interesting for us here - observation:

about tablets!

In rural schools with no electricity, tablets are being used as a display devices instead of projectors or big monitors;bingo!

Buchholz! school bags with solar panel for every child in your poor school?Think about it!They are also ...Made In China.

In fact - solar panels are big thing in China export.

Thank You! At last!

For all the Nattering Nabobs of Negativism we finally have a Promisingly Profound Purveyor of Positivism.

[DrTuner]

So all you need is to run the headmaster's Vigo outside during school day and run cables, eh ?

[Roadman]

So all you need is to run the headmaster's Vigo outside during school day and run cables, eh ?

So it was never one tablet per child but one per headmaster's Vigo.

I wonder how my sister in law will get on as she is headmistress of a 500 pupil primary school in rural Udon province and only has an approx. 30 year old scooter that she could run all theses gadgets off. The thing hardly generates enough power to run itself. Tablets? Other basic teaching resources would be more welcome.

[IsaanUSA]

What are you suggesting, that an entire class just get up and go to a nearby Starbucks whenever a lesson they're working on could potentially benefit from Internet access? How many people do you think those cafes hold? And they're almost always full when I pass by anyway. "Sorry kids, the Starbucks is too crowded. We'll have to put the lesson on hold for today."

I seriously doubt that cafe would appreciate hoards of students showing up every day just to mooch on their wifi. Those businesses put wifi in place to attract paying customers.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/572448-starbucks-thailand-tells-teachers-order-more-coffee-or-get-lost/

[borovik]

What are you suggesting, that an entire class just get up and go to a nearby Starbucks whenever a lesson they're working on could potentially benefit from Internet access? How many people do you think those cafes hold? And they're almost always full when I pass by anyway. "Sorry kids, the Starbucks is too crowded. We'll have to put the lesson on hold for today."

I seriously doubt that cafe would appreciate hoards of students showing up every day just to mooch on their wifi. Those businesses put wifi in place to attract paying customers.

http://www.thaivisa....ee-or-get-lost/

@Attrayant! Are you in Thailand?

you have not seen internet cafe in Thailand!

Of course - there are some Starbucks in Thailand,but not to many.

Schoolchildren do not go there,their mammas give them only 20 B for lunch,where is 150B for coffee?(icecream?)

Thai internet cafe - it is rather internet saloon with raw of comps,basic chairs,it cost - 20B/hour;coffee is not available at all,

sometime they have fridge with soft drinks/ice water and noodle shop outside on the street.It is full of quite young boys playing GTA and older girls writing "sick buffalo" emails to their multiple foreign boyfriends/husbands.

@issanUSA,Attrayan

are you going sometime to Singapore?

there is that Starbucks there located over metro station CityHall(center of the town) - you should see this place!every table comes with power outlet,good wi-fi with all networks available there free and paid.

this is students hang-out,there are half a dozen of colleges around and National Library;students are sitting around for hours sipping 5$ drinks;

they are not poor buggers,they are rich kids from all Asia in Singapore schools.Everybody with comp/ipad/smartphone.

In Thai Nakhonnowhere - you will not meet any of them.

@Attrayan - internetcafe in Asia it is place which provide paid access to comps and internet,it has nothing to do with coffee.

[borovik]

So all you need is to run the headmaster's Vigo outside during school day and run cables, eh ?

So it was never one tablet per child but one per headmaster's Vigo.

I wonder how my sister in law will get on as she is headmistress of a 500 pupil primary school in rural Udon province and only has an approx. 30 year old scooter that she could run all theses gadgets off. The thing hardly generates enough power to run itself. Tablets? Other basic teaching resources would be more welcome.

are you saying that your sister's in law school is without electricity?could you provide its photo here?

we had problem; picture of thai school not connected to national grid,without electric instalation.it is hard to find one.

your sister can charge her smartphone from her scooter if she needs.What does she use? Blackberry?Galaxy?

[borovik]

Buchholz! school bags with solar panel for every child in your poor school?Think about it!They are also ...Made In China.

In fact - solar panels are big thing in China export.

I agree.

The Education Ministry should buy 900,000 solar-paneled school bags.

That will go a long way in improving education in Thailand.

.

I have better idea:

Thai MinistryOfDefence should collect all dummy bomb detectors(30 000US$/piece X 900 pcs=27 000 000Us$?)

and send all this rubbish to supplier and demand refund.

It will pay for about 20 000 good quality diesel generators(Cummings will do?)for all villages without electricity.

However,I have doubts if it is feasable - that British gentleman who pulled that trick is well to smart,he will not pay back.

I have back - up plan in the same ministry:they have that rusting aircraft carrier and no money for her exploitation and maintenance.They should sell it!

I know one party,which will pay double price!they have already bought 3 unfinished aircraftcarriers from Russia and Ukraine;they would love to have another one UK designed and UK build:

China Ministry Of Defence!may be barter trade is possible?UK generators are much more reliable...

Buchholz! - you have good relation with Thai Ombudsman Office?After they are finished with Taksin's passport

they should go after this...?

[TruthEyes]

Hope any problems can be quickly overcome, and the kids can carry on being properly educated.

[barefoot1988]

this is really saddening. there is actually potential in this otpc scheme but the infrastructure here isnt just mature enough for this giant leap. and the pathetic planning doesnt help either, if there is some planning in the first place . . .

really . . this is a big waste of money.