Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng has asked that a large contact for tablet computers be canceled after it was found that the bidding process may have been rigged.
Chaturon said that the company Supreme Distribution won a bid to provide 426,683 tablets for two regions (Prathom 1 and some Mathayom 1) for THB2,908.24 apiece, or only 0.4 percent lower than the THB2,920 median price.
The students were to receive the free tablet computers as part of the second phase of the government’s “One Tablet PC Per Child” program.
Chaturon asked the Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec), which is responsible for the tablet procurement for the central and southern provinces, to cancel the contract after the Office of the Auditor-General (OAG) said the bidding contests for the two regions might have been rigged.
The company has the right to appeal against the ministry’s order to cancel the bidding result.
While the canceled contract has delayed the shipment of the tablet, Chaturon said new tablets would ship in December.
The minister previously approved the purchase of about 800,000 tablets from Shenzhen Yitoa Intelligent Control Co of China for all Prathom 1 students, and 402,889 tablets from Jasmine Telecom Systems for Mathayom 1 students, the Bangkok Post reported.
