UPDATE: The Desktoplinux article that I cite below apparently got it all wrong. I leave this post unedited as I belive the content has merit beyond the commitment part. I have no direct knowledge of OLPC goings on other than what I read in the papers and the Internet. For offical news on the project always refer to the OLPC website at http://laptop.org

According to Desktoplinux.com four countries have committed to buying 1,000,000 OLPC units each. What is really close to my heart is that Thailand will be one of the first adopters. My mother was born in Bangkok, Thailand and moved by herself to attend high school in the US. A couple of months ago I took my first trip back to Thailand in twenty years.

It was an amazing trip to a beautiful country. I was amazed at all the economic development happening there. Where there was once an overcrowded dirt road in front of my mothers birth home stood highway overpasses which were still very congested. Downtown, skyscrapers ruled the skyline and a monorail circled the heart of the city. My uncle who currently owns the house in Thailand has been offered a fair sum of money to sell the house due to plans for the monorail to be extended to the neighborhood. He’s not going to sell as there are too many memories there.

Thais are a people who know economics and commerce. Almost any house can be converted into a store front and in fact you are likely to see a myriad of store fronts walking down any side ally. From fresh food to hand made furniture, this is a place of hard working smart people. It has always been a wonder to me why Thailand has not reached the prominence that other Asian nations have in terms of commerce. They clearly have ideal shipping routes, motivated work force and skilled craftsmen.

One of the biggest problems Thailand faces is the lack of a strong middle class causing lack of social mobility. For the most part there is only poor and rich. The rich get richer precisely because they can afford to send their kids abroad to study. Nothing less than a master degree will do for kids in many of the well off families. Case in point. My mother is friends with the owners of one of the big pharmaceutical companies in Thailand. They sent their kids to New York, one to get an MBA and another to get a masters in chemistry. Two more will also be coming over in August to pursue higher degrees. Their cousin is an economics major on full scholarship in London.

Thais are hungry for education unfortunately only the best is afforded to those who can pay for it. Hopefully OLPC can help change this by providing a connected learning tool which is only limited by the cleverness of the kids using it. Thailand already has a inexpensive Linux based PC distribution program called the People’s PC Project so they know thing or two about Linux and low cost computers. The difference here is OLPC is geared towards learning, collaboration and creativity. The Thais are ingeniously clever people and it will be interesting to follow the evolution of the OLPC within their country.

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