Auditor-general to probe Thai TV Pool deal for sticker project

The chosen supplier, Thai TV Pool Company, is the only firm to submit a quotation for the project and has agreed to lower its offered price by just Bt400 during negotiations with the project owner, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
Dated December 18, a letter from the Office required the ICT Ministry to explain the project in writing and submit related documents for examination.
The ICT Ministry, which held a press conference to unveil the designs of the Line stickers on Monday, has already responded to the Office demand and is now waiting to hear the state prosecutors’ decision.
If the Office does not object, the ministry plans to go ahead with signing the contract with Thai TV Pool.
This special set of Line stickers is scheduled for free downloading from December 30 onward.
On November 7, the ICT Ministry approved this project and the use of a special procurement approach.
A committee on the special procurement had approached eight firms, including a supplier recommended by Line, but only Thai TV Pool decided to tender the proposal and quotation. Meanwhile, Line confirmed that the ICT Ministry had denied reports that it was monitoring Line messages.
Since Line has been encrypting all messages, it is technically impossible to monitor Line conversation by any third party.
“Line users’ privacy is our top priority, hence we do not allow other third parties to monitor Line messages,” said a spokesperson.