THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Reality check: The bomb detectors never worked, people died

Reality check: The bomb detectors never worked, people died

A British court has ordered that 7.9 million pounds (Bt395 million) in assets belonging to businessman James McCormick be paid back to governments who purchased his fake bomb detectors.

Two of his products – the GT200 and Alpha 6 – were purchased by state agencies in Thailand, including in the insurgency-hit deep South, before growing scepticism prompted tests that demonstrated the devices were useless. 
Officials involved were undaunted and continued to insist the GT200 and Alpha 6 were effective in detecting explosives and narcotics. Their motives for defending the bogus devices remain murky. After British experts unmasked the devices as cheap, novelty golf-ball detectors, some Thai officials relented but claimed that the devices “used to work”.
In 2013, McCormick was sentenced by a British court to 10 years in jail for selling fake bomb detectors that resulted in considerable loss of life.
Three years later Thai authorities have yet to take any concrete action in response. 
A case involving the fake detectors has been gathering dust at the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC). In total, Thailand purchased 1,310 of the devices at a cost of Bt1.08 billion, with orders filled for the Royal Thai Army’s Ordnance Department, the Finance Ministry, Royal Thai Police, the Central Institute of Forensic Science, Office of the Narcotic Control Board, the Interior Ministry’s Administration Department, and the Armed Forces Security Centre. 
The price for each device varied wildly between Bt500,000 and Bt1 million, according to which agency was doing the buying.
The slow pace of progress of the NACC case is underlined by the news that the British court has now ordered McCormick to forfeit his assets. Meanwhile despite growing and widespread suspicion, Thai authorities are still unable to say whether there were any irregularities in the purchase.
Some officials claim the state agencies were innocent dupes, which prompts real concern that no one will be held accountable for a debacle that reeks of graft and self-serving abuse of power.
The government now has an opportunity to step in and prove it is serious about tackling corruption. Agencies related to the military were major purchasers of the bogus devices. If our current military-backed administration fails to deal with this matter, then we have no hope of action under any civilian government that follows.
The bomb detector fiasco shares important features with the money-losing rice subsidy scheme implemented by Yingluck Shinawatra’s government. Speaking of the latter at the National Legislative Assembly, former NACC member Wicha Mahakhun said, “If you are not corrupt, we will say so. But your actions pointed to corruption. And you failed to terminate the project, which led to severe damage.”
In the case of bogus detectors, the damage came in the form of military and police personnel who were maimed or killed using the devices, as well as suspects who were falsely incriminated. 
The government now has a duty to dig deeper into this matter. In particular, it must ensure justice for the families of officials who lost their lives doing dangerous jobs with useless tools purchased in dubious deals.
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