Under a pilot programme, the Ministry of Education gave tablets to 600 students in different schools.
In theory, it makes sense to give young students an equal opportunity to keep up with changing technologies.
Tablets can serve as English teachers for schools who cannot afford to staff native speakers.
However, the initial handout of tablet PCs went to five prestigious urban schools, leaving rural Thai students in the dust.
Amnuay Sunthornchot, head of the Values for Building the Nation Chat Club, said: "Lack of proper curriculum is the most serious issue in national education. These days, Thai students are not studying what they are going to use in real life. So the 1.6 billion baht education budget should be spent on curriculum development."
The hope is for tablet computers to narrow the gap between privileged children and those less fortunate in what many politicians consider a failed education system.
A study on the pilot's impact found that 75 per cent of the time students used tablets for playing games, whereas 25 per cent of the time was spent learning.
If you've ever seen a child on a computer, this information is far from shocking.
Chalermchai Boonyaleepun, president of Srinakharinwirot University, said: "Tablets used in our pilot project in Grade 1 are not accessible to the Internet. The students learn only content provided by the school. Schools (with students using tablets) do not need to have Internet access and there should be no concern that the tablets will be used for wrong purposes."
Fears of roaming the Internet aside, parents at one of the pilot schools hold conflicting opinions over the value of tablets in their child's education.
Mr Vachira Kaewpakdi said: "It is a good project. In foreign countries like South Korea and China, kids are given tablet PCs. Thai kids should have it as well given that in the future, IT and communication systems will mostly come from computers. It will be good to teach children the system at a young age."
Ms Sandy Kalaya said: "Kids that use computers are in their own world and in front of the computer screen most of the time. They do not perceive nature and real life. So I do not agree with project. I think first graders should be cheerful and play at the playground."
Despite a solid education policy to go along with the devices, the government plans to go through with the pricey "One Tablet Per Child" policy.
- CNA/cc
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