Auditor-General revives probe on bogus bomb detectors

[nausea]

Unless it involves someone who is out of power now, and was in power then, it will go nowhere. Reminds me of all the pedo cases in the UK.

[Rocceao]

Yet another farce to add to all the new and up and coming farces. Sadly another lost cause which will go nowhere. How could they have been so stupid as to buy an empty plastic box with a radio antenna which supposedly could find anything from drugs to bombs, and even that forensic lady said they were okay and she has a university degree.

Remember the army purchased a second hand blimp that never flew.

The money that these morons throw away on mindless things is sickening, and they are trying to make out that this is a modern nation, when even the leader wears loads of amulets and believes in magic.

So what hope do the people have?

Nice post, however you forgot to mention the most important, mindless thing; Tattoos, that make you invisible and even bullet proof, that's always one of my favorites, gives me a laugh anyway.

http://www.backyardtravel.com/sak-yant-bulletproof-tattoos/

[Winniedapu]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Wait until the bogus PM cancels the new investigation. Then we'll really see how honest the man is...

Winnie

[nakhonandy]

This really does amuse me.

This amazing detector cost 400 mil, had they bought direct.

But nope, two middlemen were needed, no doubt military, or certainly connected. This added 1 billion to the total price for what?

The UK has announced the Countries allowed to claim compensation, Thailand isn't one of them due to not buying direct!

As for the 20% success rate, a blind monkey would probably hit 25%.

So 7 years later they will try to get the money back, from who? That's long been squirreled away.

Have to wonder why this has started, considering who bought/recommended the crap in the first place.

[GAZZPA]

I have this new invention that prevents brain cancer due to High Frequency Electro-Magnetic waves from phones. It can also be used to charge your smartphone by connecting you phone to the hat, the hat will then convert the electromagnetic waves produced by your brain into electric current.

It will be available in Thailand soon....

Fantastic, can you wrap the "special material" around a plastic soup bowl? Then it could also be used as a motorbike helmet as well, a truly multipurpose item of the highest quality.

You will do well with it in places with gullible, open minded officials such as Thailand, it doesn't even need to be based on any science to be accepted.

[GAZZPA]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Did you know that this device has already been branded as fake by the FBI and UK officials?

It is an inert piece of plastic with zero contents, no electronics, absolutely nothing inside. It is nothing more then a piece of plastic with a swinging aerial attached to it. It was originally a golf ball detector, a simple novelty item sold for $20 USD. Then a special case was created, a lot of marketing bumf and of course a complete rebranding.

Since this story broke I have done some digging. The Uk have tried to inform everyone that it is fake and does not and cannot possibly work. This is why the guy got 10 years (not enough in my opinion)

However, it is still being used in some countries such as Iraq. The theory behind the continued use (despite absolutely everyone knowing its a total scam) is that there may have been some "incentives/ brown envelopes" involved in the sale of this piece of crap to the government departments and investigating this thoroughly would show a glaringly obvious difference between the invoices issued and the real money paid for the devices.

This is because the UK government have stripped assets and seized all paperwork so they have the true sale price paid and they will look to return money back to the defrauded governments.

If this does get investigated thoroughly then it people will start getting very nervous indeed about what will be uncovered by the transaction.

I have also read that 1 General in Iraq has now been charged and imprisoned for fraud in his part in the transaction but there is more investigation needed. The really scary part is why these possible idiots are pretending that it does or could work to cover up the corruption these devices continue to get used to detect bombs, which of course they cannot so it is putting lives at risk every single day.

You can google the bus full of explosives that managed to get through a checkpoint in Iraq, how? Well they were using this "toy" to detect bombs and 115 people were killed.

So, although I initially found this funny that Thailand were defending the purchase and use of the device (especially the stupid quote that the item has failed all science tests but thats ok because its technology is not based on science,,,, unbelievable!) it is important that it is investigated, never used again and the people responsible brought to justice.

[jerojero]

To repeat the obvious, but well worth repeating: How F. stupid can some of these educated Government officials be! Answer: Very.

Edited June 21, 2016 by jerojero

[Eric Loh]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Did you know that this device has already been branded as fake by the FBI and UK officials?

It is an inert piece of plastic with zero contents, no electronics, absolutely nothing inside. It is nothing more then a piece of plastic with a swinging aerial attached to it. It was originally a golf ball detector, a simple novelty item sold for $20 USD. Then a special case was created, a lot of marketing bumf and of course a complete rebranding.

Since this story broke I have done some digging. The Uk have tried to inform everyone that it is fake and does not and cannot possibly work. This is why the guy got 10 years (not enough in my opinion)

However, it is still being used in some countries such as Iraq. The theory behind the continued use (despite absolutely everyone knowing its a total scam) is that there may have been some "incentives/ brown envelopes" involved in the sale of this piece of crap to the government departments and investigating this thoroughly would show a glaringly obvious difference between the invoices issued and the real money paid for the devices.

This is because the UK government have stripped assets and seized all paperwork so they have the true sale price paid and they will look to return money back to the defrauded governments.

If this does get investigated thoroughly then it people will start getting very nervous indeed about what will be uncovered by the transaction.

I have also read that 1 General in Iraq has now been charged and imprisoned for fraud in his part in the transaction but there is more investigation needed. The really scary part is why these possible idiots are pretending that it does or could work to cover up the corruption these devices continue to get used to detect bombs, which of course they cannot so it is putting lives at risk every single day.

You can google the bus full of explosives that managed to get through a checkpoint in Iraq, how? Well they were using this "toy" to detect bombs and 115 people were killed.

So, although I initially found this funny that Thailand were defending the purchase and use of the device (especially the stupid quote that the item has failed all science tests but thats ok because its technology is not based on science,,,, unbelievable!) it is important that it is investigated, never used again and the people responsible brought to justice.

It was tested by a US company,think it was called Scandia Lab and failed. That was in the late 90s. Surely that would raised a red flag when evaluated by the military purchasing committee in 2005. Alas it didn't and the purchase went ahead approved by the then army chief who is now deputy PM. He also approved the flightless airship.

[GAZZPA]

This really does amuse me.

This amazing detector cost 400 mil, had they bought direct.

But nope, two middlemen were needed, no doubt military, or certainly connected. This added 1 billion to the total price for what?

The UK has announced the Countries allowed to claim compensation, Thailand isn't one of them due to not buying direct!

As for the 20% success rate, a blind monkey would probably hit 25%.

So 7 years later they will try to get the money back, from who? That's long been squirreled away.

Have to wonder why this has started, considering who bought/recommended the crap in the first place.

Thailand can claim back money, they were sold to Thailand via a UK Trader who worked directly with the guy who creed the scam. The issue will be the paper trail, which will most certainly lay wide open the (potential) gaping chasm between the actual price paid on the invoice and the corresponding "second" real invoice in the UK.

I would imagine that it is possible anyone who benefited from this scheme will not want any independent body reconciling the invoicing the Police have in the UK and the invoicing the Thai authorities have.

From the reports i have read online there is already suspicion that many states have "irregularities" in the paperwork that could be a sign of corruption.

[Winniedapu]

I remember when this news was hot.

The head of the forensic science department even vouched for the thing, completely misunderstanding the result of their own double blind test. It was really worrying.

Media didn't get the test either, despite the whole thing being high school level of science.

The test was basically 4 boxes in a big field. One of them with a charge of explosive. The 'bomb' operator had to use the device to figure out which box contained the explosive. They tested about a dozen times and the operators got it 'right' 20% of the time. That was actually LESS than pure chance (25%)

But somehow politicians and media concluded that it meant the device could still detect bombs in 20% of the cases, so that was better than not having anything. No, dummies! The 20% meant that this device doesn't do any better than just picking something randmly. It will never improve detection of bombs... and will probably instill a misplaced confidence when it doesn't detect a bomb that's actually there.

Yes I remember,....but I think some big brown envelopes took the decision for them !!!

And I remember some western country's had those detectors to !!! the brown envelope comes back to mind ...?!?!?

Best regards

As many have said before, these devices were a scam. pure and simple. and intended only for the unintelligent and uneducated purchaser who could only count banknotes in an envelope.

The 'Irish mine detector' would have been at least as effective. Picture if you will, a farm worker, with fingers in his ears, tapping the ground in front of him with his foot. That's the 'Irish mine detector'. and it would have save more lives than what the army bought for 800 million baht.

Someone needs to find out where the kickbacks went. Perhaps that might be a partial explanation of how Prayuth managed to accumulate 600 million baht on a soldier's salary...

Winnie

[GAZZPA]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Did you know that this device has already been branded as fake by the FBI and UK officials?

It is an inert piece of plastic with zero contents, no electronics, absolutely nothing inside. It is nothing more then a piece of plastic with a swinging aerial attached to it. It was originally a golf ball detector, a simple novelty item sold for $20 USD. Then a special case was created, a lot of marketing bumf and of course a complete rebranding.

Since this story broke I have done some digging. The Uk have tried to inform everyone that it is fake and does not and cannot possibly work. This is why the guy got 10 years (not enough in my opinion)

However, it is still being used in some countries such as Iraq. The theory behind the continued use (despite absolutely everyone knowing its a total scam) is that there may have been some "incentives/ brown envelopes" involved in the sale of this piece of crap to the government departments and investigating this thoroughly would show a glaringly obvious difference between the invoices issued and the real money paid for the devices.

This is because the UK government have stripped assets and seized all paperwork so they have the true sale price paid and they will look to return money back to the defrauded governments.

If this does get investigated thoroughly then it people will start getting very nervous indeed about what will be uncovered by the transaction.

I have also read that 1 General in Iraq has now been charged and imprisoned for fraud in his part in the transaction but there is more investigation needed. The really scary part is why these possible idiots are pretending that it does or could work to cover up the corruption these devices continue to get used to detect bombs, which of course they cannot so it is putting lives at risk every single day.

You can google the bus full of explosives that managed to get through a checkpoint in Iraq, how? Well they were using this "toy" to detect bombs and 115 people were killed.

So, although I initially found this funny that Thailand were defending the purchase and use of the device (especially the stupid quote that the item has failed all science tests but thats ok because its technology is not based on science,,,, unbelievable!) it is important that it is investigated, never used again and the people responsible brought to justice.

It was tested by a US company,think it was called Scandia Lab and failed. That was in the late 90s. Surely that would raised a red flag when evaluated by the military purchasing committee in 2005. Alas it didn't and the purchase went ahead approved by the then army chief who is now deputy PM. He also approved the flightless airship.

Never heard about the flightless airship, when was this?

You are right, the FBI labelled it as fake and dangerous and consequently the man responsible then moved to the UK. The UK then tested the item and said is was a scam so the door was closed to the West. However, many nations in Asia who perhaps were not as "stringent" in procedure were wide open. Dare I say, especially the nations where a brown envelope could grease the wheels.

It is now a global embarrassment for everyone who bought them.

But people need to put aside the possible corrupt issue right now and stop using them (to protect themselves) as peoples lives are at stake.

[Eric Loh]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Did you know that this device has already been branded as fake by the FBI and UK officials?

It is an inert piece of plastic with zero contents, no electronics, absolutely nothing inside. It is nothing more then a piece of plastic with a swinging aerial attached to it. It was originally a golf ball detector, a simple novelty item sold for $20 USD. Then a special case was created, a lot of marketing bumf and of course a complete rebranding.

Since this story broke I have done some digging. The Uk have tried to inform everyone that it is fake and does not and cannot possibly work. This is why the guy got 10 years (not enough in my opinion)

However, it is still being used in some countries such as Iraq. The theory behind the continued use (despite absolutely everyone knowing its a total scam) is that there may have been some "incentives/ brown envelopes" involved in the sale of this piece of crap to the government departments and investigating this thoroughly would show a glaringly obvious difference between the invoices issued and the real money paid for the devices.

This is because the UK government have stripped assets and seized all paperwork so they have the true sale price paid and they will look to return money back to the defrauded governments.

If this does get investigated thoroughly then it people will start getting very nervous indeed about what will be uncovered by the transaction.

I have also read that 1 General in Iraq has now been charged and imprisoned for fraud in his part in the transaction but there is more investigation needed. The really scary part is why these possible idiots are pretending that it does or could work to cover up the corruption these devices continue to get used to detect bombs, which of course they cannot so it is putting lives at risk every single day.

You can google the bus full of explosives that managed to get through a checkpoint in Iraq, how? Well they were using this "toy" to detect bombs and 115 people were killed.

So, although I initially found this funny that Thailand were defending the purchase and use of the device (especially the stupid quote that the item has failed all science tests but thats ok because its technology is not based on science,,,, unbelievable!) it is important that it is investigated, never used again and the people responsible brought to justice.

It was tested by a US company,think it was called Scandia Lab and failed. That was in the late 90s. Surely that would raised a red flag when evaluated by the military purchasing committee in 2005. Alas it didn't and the purchase went ahead approved by the then army chief who is now deputy PM. He also approved the flightless airship.

Never heard about the flightless airship, when was this?

You are right, the FBI labelled it as fake and dangerous and consequently the man responsible then moved to the UK. The UK then tested the item and said is was a scam so the door was closed to the West. However, many nations in Asia who perhaps were not as "stringent" in procedure were wide open. Dare I say, especially the nations where a brown envelope could grease the wheels.

It is now a global embarrassment for everyone who bought them.

But people need to put aside the possible corrupt issue right now and stop using them (to protect themselves) as peoples lives are at stake.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/604958-thai-armys-airship-crashes-hurts-four/

Had lots of fun back in 2012 talking about this flightless bird.

[Winniedapu]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

Exactly. And some people still think of the NACC as an "independent" body.

Did you know that this device has already been branded as fake by the FBI and UK officials?

It is an inert piece of plastic with zero contents, no electronics, absolutely nothing inside. It is nothing more then a piece of plastic with a swinging aerial attached to it. It was originally a golf ball detector, a simple novelty item sold for $20 USD. Then a special case was created, a lot of marketing bumf and of course a complete rebranding.

Since this story broke I have done some digging. The Uk have tried to inform everyone that it is fake and does not and cannot possibly work. This is why the guy got 10 years (not enough in my opinion)

However, it is still being used in some countries such as Iraq. The theory behind the continued use (despite absolutely everyone knowing its a total scam) is that there may have been some "incentives/ brown envelopes" involved in the sale of this piece of crap to the government departments and investigating this thoroughly would show a glaringly obvious difference between the invoices issued and the real money paid for the devices.

This is because the UK government have stripped assets and seized all paperwork so they have the true sale price paid and they will look to return money back to the defrauded governments.

If this does get investigated thoroughly then it people will start getting very nervous indeed about what will be uncovered by the transaction.

I have also read that 1 General in Iraq has now been charged and imprisoned for fraud in his part in the transaction but there is more investigation needed. The really scary part is why these possible idiots are pretending that it does or could work to cover up the corruption these devices continue to get used to detect bombs, which of course they cannot so it is putting lives at risk every single day.

You can google the bus full of explosives that managed to get through a checkpoint in Iraq, how? Well they were using this "toy" to detect bombs and 115 people were killed.

So, although I initially found this funny that Thailand were defending the purchase and use of the device (especially the stupid quote that the item has failed all science tests but thats ok because its technology is not based on science,,,, unbelievable!) it is important that it is investigated, never used again and the people responsible brought to justice.

It was tested by a US company,think it was called Scandia Lab and failed. That was in the late 90s. Surely that would raised a red flag when evaluated by the military purchasing committee in 2005. Alas it didn't and the purchase went ahead approved by the then army chief who is now deputy PM. He also approved the flightless airship.

Never heard about the flightless airship, when was this?

You are right, the FBI labelled it as fake and dangerous and consequently the man responsible then moved to the UK. The UK then tested the item and said is was a scam so the door was closed to the West. However, many nations in Asia who perhaps were not as "stringent" in procedure were wide open. Dare I say, especially the nations where a brown envelope could grease the wheels.

It is now a global embarrassment for everyone who bought them.

But people need to put aside the possible corrupt issue right now and stop using them (to protect themselves) as peoples lives are at stake.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/604958-thai-armys-airship-crashes-hurts-four/

Had lots of fun back in 2012 talking about this flightless bird.

Right, nothing was done about that, and nothing will be done about this, even though heads should obviously roll for both. And the corruption wagon rolls on.

Wait for the PM to announce he has successfully killed off Corruption, and Thailand is now officially a corruption-free zone.

Winnie

[Khun Han]

Pointless and foolhardy to think the NACC will take up the case when one of the NCPO leader and deputy PM was involved and also in typical military fashion accused the press of sabotage. Sansern army spokesman boldly announced that the device was 100% reliable. This will no where and we all know that.

For once, I agree with you, Khun Eric, and it has been so during the tenure of all 'elected' 'Governments' of Thailand, may I add...

Oh, but, in fact, which party and persons were holding power when this overly expensive unusable utter-crap 'gadget' was purchased, do you remember? And is the 'Government' not in charge of any such order/purchase, in first instance the Ministry of Defence here? Please, refresh my memory, give me their names, from which political party you said? Not that it changes anything to the matter itself, you know, but to 'relativate' a bit, and not to allow you to further incriminate anyone for just not belonging to 'the side' you single and always come up for...

You're right. If memory serves me correctly, two of these pieces of junk were purchased for evaluation purposes under the last Thaksin government. And further bulk purchases were made under all subsequent governments up to and including Abhisit's.