10,000 Chinese tablets to be delivered to Thai gov't Friday

BANGKOK - The Thai government will receive 10,000 tablet computers from China's Shenzhen Scope Scientific Development Co Ltd. on Friday, local media reported on Thursday.

According to Captain Suraphol Navamawat, an adviser to the ICT minister, Shenzhen Scope is aiming to deliver all 400,000 tablets by August 18 by shipping 12,288 tablets every day for four days a week.

He said the arrival schedule of the 10,000 tablets was postponed from Thursday to Friday, because the site where they are meant to be stored was not ready.

Another contract for buying 500,000 more tablet computers has already been signed, and the company will start sending them one week after the initial order of 400,000 tablets has been completed, Suraphol said.

The government planned to hand out 1 million tablets to Grade 1 primary school students as part of the "One Tablet per Child Program" -- providing each school child with a tablet computer, promised by the ruling Pheu Thai during last year's election campaign.

The ICT Ministry inked the contract with Scope on May 10 requiring the company to deliver 400,000 units, priced $32.8 million, within 60 days.