Well, seems despite all the evidence the GT200 and Alpha 6 are still in use in Thailand, although there are some glimmers of hope that ongoing coverage such as the following piece from The Bangkok Post will eventually have the desired effect. Let us hope so!
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI)
has been asked by police in the UK to testify against a British company
accused of providing Thailand with useless bomb detectors.
The case involves Comstrac Co Ltd, which is accused of fraud in
connection with the manufacture, promotion and sale of GT200 and Alpha 6
bomb detecting equipment.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in Intarakhao, director of the Security Crime Bureau,
said British police have asked the DSI to testify about the false
technology and the damage it has caused to the country. A hearing is
tentatively scheduled during March-April next year, he said.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in was speaking after yesterday's meeting with British police responsible for the fraud case against Comstrac.
None of the countries which bought the device have filed a complaint
against the company, he said. About 20 countries were reportedly "duped"
into buying the devices.
City of London Police's Overseas Anti-Corruption Unit has charged six
Britons with fraud in connection with the manufacture, promotion and
sale of the device to foreign jurisdictions between Jan 15, 2007 and
July 12, 2012.
In January 2010, the UK government banned the export of the GT200 and
the Alpha 6 to Iraq and Afghanistan, warning that they were "wholly
ineffective" at detecting explosives.
Comstrac set up two companies with three subsidiaries to distribute
the detectors in Thailand. A total of 1,576 units were purchased by 14
agencies with the army being the biggest purchaser of the device. Most
of the bomb detectors were deployed in the violence-plagued southernmost
provinces.
Pol Lt Col Pong-in said the DSI has received documents from British
authorities showing that the GT200 and Alpha 6 are ineffective in
detecting explosives.
The findings match the result of the tests conducted locally.
"The conclusion is that GT200 and Alpha 6 can't detect explosives and narcotics as claimed by the manufacturer," he said.
There are one or two minor inaccuracies in the report in that the GT200 was sold to Thailand by Global Technical, and the Alpha 6 by Comstrac.
I will post again shortly with another article from the Thai media that has just been brought to my attention.
The sorry tale continues!
