PM shoots down revival of GT200 investigation

[webfact]

PM shoots down revival of GT200 investigation



BANGKOK: -- Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has shot down any attempt to revive an investigation into the GT200 bogus bomb detector scandal claiming that the devices have been dumped long time ago.

Asked by a reporter about a possibility of an investigation into the scandal now that a British court last week ordered the convicted seller of the GT200 bomb detectors, James McCormick, to compensate the affected countries from his forfeited assets worth about 400 million baht, the prime minister retorted, asking:

“What investigation? “

“ They have stopped using them long time ago – perhaps dumped into garbage bins. When they are useless, they are useless. They were useful once but when they were proven to be useless, they were not used. Please think about the people who were killed by bombs,” said the prime minister.

He defended that not only Thailand but also there were many other countries that bought the same devices from the British firm.

The prime minister also noted that the seller of the devices was prosecuted and convicted not the buyers.

However, he added that if compensation could be claimed from the seller, then he would like the claim to be made.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/pm-shoots-revival-gt200-investigation/


-- Thai PBS 2016-06-21

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Makes you wonder!

[dcnx]

Image that.

Not gonna to say what I want to say due to obvious reasons, but I'm sure most of you come to the same conclusion.

Edited June 20, 2016 by dcnx

[Winniedapu]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Edited June 20, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Chang_paarp]

They were useful once but when they were proven to be useless, they were not used.

They were useful?? I thought that was the basis of the fraud prosecution, they were never useful.

[ezzra]

What goes around, comes around, the PM no doubts is preparing the ground for the day he might one day in the

cross hairs of an investigation about him, so by playing dumb now, he expect that the same will be

when his time will come, and if past records of former PM's in Thailand is anything to go by, his day will come......

[jamesbrock]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Geez, why don't you tell us what you really think!

Indeed, a report just three years ago stated that when asked "whether the procurement possibly involved fraud," Prayuth responded that the buying of the equipment was done "carefully by the responsible committee, and that any allegation of corruption should be made based on solid evidence."

They spent somewhere between 700m – 800m Baht ($22.1m – $25.2m) for 1000 empty plastic cases that—out of 20 double-blind tests using 4 boxes—worked only 4 times, but at least they did so carefully!

Note that if it was pure random chance the devices should out have worked 5 times. So this means if you were to replace the 1.2 million baht GT200 device with a 25 satang coin, the coin would be more accurate...

Edited June 20, 2016 by jamesbrock

[aussieinthailand]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Wow Winnie, I really hope you have a good VPN or not in LOS at the moment.

I was under the impression that these bomb detectors were nothing but useless, why would the PM say that they sometimes were useful? unless the money that changed hands is the bit of usefulness he is talking about???

Now the real questions that need to be asked and answered, Who was the person that tested these fake bomb detectors? who was the person that approved of their perchance? and who is going to be held accountable for this VERY expensive co___kup??? Oh Oh I know who,, Thaksin the Red's the PTP them northern people cause it wouldn't be us good south people yeah....

How do you guy's think the junta fan boys will spin this or will they do the usual and just stay well away from the difficult issues pathetic!!!

Edited June 20, 2016 by aussieinthailand

[Rayk]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Wow Winnie, I really hope you have a good VPN or not in LOS at the moment.

I was under the impression that these bomb detectors were nothing but useless, why would the PM say that they sometimes were useful? unless the money that changed hands is the bit of usefulness he is talking about??? How do you guy's think the junta fan boys will spin this or will they do the usual and just stay well away from the difficult issues pathetic!!!

I concur with the first sentence of your post.

[sjjmmi]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

watch your back

[colinneil]

Maybe the PM had something to hide.

The army used them, so senior army officers were involved in the decision to buy them.

Block any attempt at further investigation, in case he ends up in the spotlight.

[ramrod711]

They were useful once but when they were proven to be useless, they were not used.

I understand that English is not his first language, I really hope that this isn't an accurate translation because it's the stupidest thing I have ever read. How about; "We thought that they could be used to save soldiers lives, but when we discovered that they were useless we stopped using them". Of course that wouldn't be accurate either, because they didn't stop using them right away

[shirtless]

It was a big loss of face he thinks this is better forgotten .

[djjamie]

Goodness me. If Prayut keeps going down this path he will nearly (but not quite) reflect the same extent of corruption and patronage that permeated at all levels of society under the previous regime.

​Admit you were swindled and move on, but no Thai will ever do that let alone the popular leader the country.

[eddie61]

all a bit ichthyosmatic.

Edited June 21, 2016 by eddie61

[jerojero]

Rug. Sweep under. In other words F.O. says PM.

[robblok]

Bad idea obvious corruption should be explored, probably not allowed because it targets the army. Real bad will Thailand never learn, it seems that whoever is in power always makes sure their side is never investigated.

That keeps me to my point a coup or whatever else that is needed to shift power once in a while is good, otherwise one side will never be punished at least with power changes other criminals get punished. I hope the next government does decide to look into this matter.

[Bob12345]

Goodness me. If Prayut keeps going down this path he will nearly (but not quite) reflect the same extent of corruption and patronage that permeated at all levels of society under the previous regime.

​Admit you were swindled and move on, but no Thai will ever do that let alone the popular leader the country.

So basically you are saying "but but but the previous government..."?

[Bob12345]

Bad idea obvious corruption should be explored, probably not allowed because it targets the army. Real bad will Thailand never learn, it seems that whoever is in power always makes sure their side is never investigated.

That keeps me to my point a coup or whatever else that is needed to shift power once in a while is good, otherwise one side will never be punished at least with power changes other criminals get punished. I hope the next government does decide to look into this matter.

So you are hoping the army/junta/yellow side loses power soon so they can finally brought to justice for all the crimes they are currently committing?

Couldn't agree more.

(and I guess we both hope it will be "a new" political color that takes powder next instead of switching it between the red and the yellow/green side)

[robblok]

Bad idea obvious corruption should be explored, probably not allowed because it targets the army. Real bad will Thailand never learn, it seems that whoever is in power always makes sure their side is never investigated.

That keeps me to my point a coup or whatever else that is needed to shift power once in a while is good, otherwise one side will never be punished at least with power changes other criminals get punished. I hope the next government does decide to look into this matter.

So you are hoping the army/junta/yellow side loses power soon so they can finally brought to justice for all the crimes they are currently committing?

Couldn't agree more.

(and I guess we both hope it will be "a new" political color that takes powder next instead of switching it between the red and the yellow/green side)

The army will loose power, now I do hope for democrats to win but even if PTP wins and they go after this it will be good. Fact is that there should be power shifts because as i stated whoever is in power always protects their own back. Without the junta getting in power many of the PTP's crimes would go un punished, now the same goes the other way around.

[Bob12345]

Goodness me. If Prayut keeps going down this path he will nearly (but not quite) reflect the same extent of corruption and patronage that permeated at all levels of society under the previous regime.

​Admit you were swindled and move on, but no Thai will ever do that let alone the popular leader the country.

Your logic seems sort of a contradiction.

If he was really popular then I would suppose this little incident would not destroy him, right?

But if he was on the brink of being kicked out, this might be the straw that would break the camel's back.

[klauskunkel]

Asked by a reporter

Dear reporters, haven't you learned by now? Do not ask him about issues that could be controversial, lead to loss of face, or require analytical thought. Look at his face: the thunderclouds are gathering...

Instead ask about his Muay Thai skills,...and I can't think of anything else, really, so everybody always ask him about his Muay Thai, all the time.

[Jimbo2014]

The equivalent of the back office shredder.

[Snig27]

Goodness me. If Prayut keeps going down this path he will nearly (but not quite) reflect the same extent of corruption and patronage that permeated at all levels of society under the previous regime.

​Admit you were swindled and move on, but no Thai will ever do that let alone the popular leader the country.

I thought Prayuth's statement was the most disingenuous, dishonest and self-serving piece of twaddle I'd ever read on the internet until I read yours Jamie.

[Winniedapu]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Geez, why don't you tell us what you really think!

Indeed, a report just three years ago stated that when asked "whether the procurement possibly involved fraud," Prayuth responded that the buying of the equipment was done "carefully by the responsible committee, and that any allegation of corruption should be made based on solid evidence."

They spent somewhere between 700m – 800m Baht ($22.1m – $25.2m) for 1000 empty plastic cases that—out of 20 double-blind tests using 4 boxes—worked only 4 times, but at least they did so carefully!

Note that if it was pure random chance the devices should out have worked 5 times. So this means if you were to replace the 1.2 million baht GT200 device with a 25 satang coin, the coin would be more accurate...

"Geez, why don't you tell us what you really think!"

Indeed, I apologise to all TV readers for an uncharacteristic outburst of anger.

My excuse is unreasonable provocation, but it is just that - an excuse, and a pretty weak one at that. Sorry.

Winnie

Edited June 21, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Eric Loh]

Bad idea obvious corruption should be explored, probably not allowed because it targets the army. Real bad will Thailand never learn, it seems that whoever is in power always makes sure their side is never investigated.

That keeps me to my point a coup or whatever else that is needed to shift power once in a while is good, otherwise one side will never be punished at least with power changes other criminals get punished. I hope the next government does decide to look into this matter.

"I hope the next government does decide to look into this matter".

Can any elected government act against the military? This is a serious question. The military is a state within a state and the generals are untouchables. They formed their own procurement committees and fund their purchases with "secret budgets" that are unaccountable to the parliament.

[phoenixdoglover]

Remember this? It was so long ago.

BANGKOK, 27 March 2016 (NNT) – Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha says the government has always put the the country's interest first while applying the principle of transparency to its everyday work.

Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cham, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), said he had instructed his cabinet ministers to closely monitor all operations and projects in order to prevent possible corruption practices. He stressed that all activities must be transparent and open to scrutiny.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/906092-gen-prayut-says-govts-work-is-based-on-transparency/

[harrry]

As several high ranking government officals have determined that the goods they recieved were good and worked there was no loss involved to Thailand so there can be no grounds for compensation.

[Winniedapu]

Well I don't mind stating the obvious.

What our PM says now is diametrically opposed to what he said while still army chief, which was (as I recall) "we still use them (the obviously fraudulent GT2000 detectors) because they sometimes work" or words to that effect. They were purchased, not because they work (they were proved to be wholly useless), but because of the corrupt kickbacks that were involved.

Now that the UK court has demanded that the guilty party make restitution, we might well see the thief now in a UK prison, decide to rat out the people to whom he paid corrupt 'commissions'. Roll on that day.

Our esteemed PM is shown to be nothing less than a liar, whose own alleged corruption ought now to be investigated, but won't be because of the extent of corruption and patronage permeating all levels of society in junta Thailand.

Shame on you Prayuth, you are a shallow liar and a fraud. And that's without investigating how much of your assets were obtained corruptly. You make me want to vomit, you thief.

Winnie

Wow Winnie, I really hope you have a good VPN or not in LOS at the moment.

I was under the impression that these bomb detectors were nothing but useless, why would the PM say that they sometimes were useful? unless the money that changed hands is the bit of usefulness he is talking about??? How do you guy's think the junta fan boys will spin this or will they do the usual and just stay well away from the difficult issues pathetic!!!

I concur with the first sentence of your post.

Thanks all. I'm not in Thailand atm, nor will I be for a little while.

Winnie

[Just1Voice]

Of course he doesn't want an investigation! Seeing as how he was head of the Army at the time of the purchases, an investigation might possibly reveal some things he would rather not see come to light. And now that he's assumed the role of "God', he can make sure there is no investigation.