US IT business operators meet Thai minister

BANGKOK, March 14 (TNA) - Operators from US information technology (IT) business giants, representing an IT working group of the US-ASEAN Business Council, met Thai Education Minister Suchart Thadathamrongwetmet in Bangkok Wednesday, calling on Thailand to catch up with advance technologies and adhere to transparency. The US delegation, including the business operators from Intel, Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Oracle, Cisco and Dell, suggested that the Thai government increase public access to technologies, follow up innovations, implement projects with transparency, enhance personnel's capabilities and invest wisely, insisting that they are ready to cooperate with the Thai Ministry of Education. Professor Suchart acknowledged that the Thai government has kept following up technological development, citing a project to buy tablet computers for students, saying that the Thai government has now focused on improving language skills of Thai children to offer them opportunities, rather than controlling them, as well guaranteeing transparency and fair competition and giving freedom to schools in their procurement of teaching media. The education minister then told journalists that the British Council will assign foreign students who take vacation in Thailand to teach English in the country, with the first batch of some 2,000 foreign students to take up the assignment this year. Besides, the British Council will donate English teaching media to schools in Thailand. (TNA)