The information was widely available

Peter J Foley is entitled to his opinions. However, his mention of “the 1997 economic disaster that occurred during the Democrat Party watch” is not an opinion anymore. It is either an “honest mistake” or a lie.
The Democrats of Chuan Leekpai were in power from 1992 to 1995. In July 1995, Banharn Silpa-archa of the Chart Thai Party was elected prime minister. In November 1996, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh of the New Aspiration Party was elected PM. Chavalit resigned in the midst of the financial crisis in November 1997 following his disastrous management of the crisis, but not before having had to borrow over US$20 billion from the IMF. In November 1997, Chuan Leekpai of the Democrats was elected for a second time as PM.
The Democrats were not in power at the time of the crisis (which started in July 1997 with the devaluation of the baht) but they were elected in its aftermath to face the consequences and pick up the pieces. In my opinion, they did quite a good job and paved the way for Thaksin and his TRT Party to reap the benefits.
Regarding Mr Foley’s last comment, I think tablet PCs may be a useful tool and give our children better access to information. However they are no substitute for a radical reform of the education system. Without reform, tables will simply transform our children into clever idiots by making them think they know everything while in fact they will still know very little and understand nothing. In the digital age, we are drowning in information and starved for knowledge. Information literacy is essential, not tablet PCs.
Candide
Bangkok