Very strong words from The Nation.

For the authorities reputation is more important than lives - Nationmultimedia.com
EDITORIAL
For the authorities reputation is more important than lives
By The Nation
Published on January 27, 2010

The army chief trying to save face over faulty bomb scanners is typical of the ego-driven selfishness in our public servants

What's the difference between down-and-out singer turned wannabe-actor Nathan Oman and Army chief General Anupong Paochinda? Nothing much, if one is to look at how they handle personal and professional crises. When the heat is on, both men grab anything they can get their hands on and throw it back at the media, as if that is really going to help.
Apparently neither man has read American author Mark Twain, who famously said, "Better to keep your mouth closed and be thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt."

Nathan has enjoyed a track record of telling tall tales from the very beginning of his career. He has told one lie after another, and eventually found himself in a hole too deep. Still, the young actor continues to tell lies with a straight face. In that respect, he should qualify as a national politician, something that Anupong aspires to be.

Anupong, meanwhile, lost his cool during an encounter with a group of journalists. It was a straight question about a recent announcement by the British government that bomb detectors purchased by the Thai government have been banned for export, amid new doubts over their effectiveness.

"Which company is paying you off?" Anupong sarcastically snapped at the reporter. The Army chief had just came out of a meeting about another major headache - rogue Army Maj General Khattiya Sawasasdipol, or Sae Daeng. But being in a bad mood should not be an excuse.

Given the level of corruption in the military, not to mention other government agencies, it might not be out of the question for reporters to shoot back with the same question. But apparently, the reporters didn't feel the need for a spitting contest.

The fact itself is humiliating enough for Anupong, and of course the Army, the police and other security agencies that have either purchased or plan to purchase these overpriced gadgets that are supposed to detect bombs safely and efficiently.

The Thai government has purchased more than 500 of the GT200 bomb detectors, mostly for the deep South, where the ongoing insurgency has claimed about 4,000 lives. There were plans to buy more, but that decision will now likely be frozen for the time being following the British ban. One detector costs Thai taxpayers between Bt900,000-Bt1.6 million, depending on the options. The British authorities have arrested the director of the company in question.

We are glad that the British government came clean. Perhaps it felt a moral obligation to the international community, especially allies who have purchased these UK-made detectors.

But the Thai security community should not feel bad. There are others in the same boat. The Iraqi government has spent US$85 million on the ADE-651, which is virtually identical to the GT200 detector.

Iraqi officials were furious over the news of the defective detectors. It showed they cared about their people. Unfortunately, our Army chief allowed his inflated ego to get the better of him. Perhaps he felt that his image and reputation were more important than the well-being of servicemen and women who continue to put their lives on the line in the deep South, where bomb attacks against them are a daily occurrence.

Anupong is not alone, however. Other well-known figures duped by this ineffective device include Khunying Porntip Rojanasunan, director of the Justice Ministry's forensic institute, who also defended the procurement of the GT200 by saying it's "better than nothing".

It's a disgrace how authority figures continue to compromise the safety of government officials on the front line. Warnings about the effectiveness of this device had been brought up in the past. A probe into a car bomb at Sungai Kolok in October 2009 revealed that explosives hidden in the vehicle went through a checkpoint with a GT200 bomb detector. No one could explain how the militants were able to get through security blocks and drive into the heart of the border town, which has more security officials than other towns in the region. The bomb was packed in a canister for natural gas that weighed about 50 kilogrammes.

Still, the authorities always have their answers, no matter how absurd they may be.
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