Thailand buys Chinese tablet computers for schools

Thailand signed a deal to buy hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made tablet computers for primary school children
A student browses through ebooks on a tablet computer in March 2012. Thailand on Thursday signed a multi-million dollar deal to buy hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made tablet computers for primary school children, an official statement said.

Thailand on Thursday signed a multi-million dollar deal to buy hundreds of thousands of Chinese-made tablet computers for primary school children, an official statement said.

The ruling Puea Thai party, linked to former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, promised to issue free handheld computers to a million students as part of a raft of pledges that helped it to an election victory last year.

Other undertakings included a rise in the minimum wage and increased rice prices for farmers, and Puea Thai -- led by Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra -- has been accused by the opposition of populism.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) minister Anudit Nakornthap inked a contract with Scope Scientific Development Co Ltd, one of four companies "suggested by the ".

"The first batch of 400,000 tablets, costing $32.8 million, will be delivered within 60 days," he said in statement, adding that a repeat order would not exceed one million machines.

(c) 2012 AFP

Citation: Thailand buys Chinese tablet computers for schools (2012, May 10) retrieved 26 June 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2012-05-thailand-chinese-tablet-schools.html
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