AoT paying 6 times market price for kit

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has been asked by an anti-corruption group to look into alleged irregularities at Airport of Thailand Plc (AoT) after its earlier petitions to state agencies fell on deaf ears.

The group has raised questions about the cost of equipment at AoT-run airports, ranging from body scanners to conveyor belts, systems to detect explosive substances and even trolleys.

The group believes many are unusually expensive, Wiwat Sombatlai, chairman of the Good Governance Network Against Dishonesty, said yesterday.

He said he has asked Gen Prayut to accelerate probes into the AoT’s alleged malfeasance before it deals a blow to the country.

Mr Wiwat has previously petitioned the Transport Ministry, which oversees the AoT, but he said the complaints “faded and became quiet”.

Central to his network’s questions is why the AoT has opted to lease rather than buy the body scanners it uses, thus incurring higher expenses.

“The monthly leasing costs paid by the AoT work out to be six times above the perunit retail price of these pieces of equipment,” he said.

According to the network, the AoT is required to pay 644,000 baht a month to a private company under a 60-month contract (38.64 million baht) for one body scanner, which retails on the market for just 5.6 million baht.

What his network unveiled is based on the “median price” given by the US-based General Services Administration Schedules, Mr Wiwat said.

Similar doubts have been raised over the procurement of conveyor belts and bomb detection systems.

The AoT has committed to paying 3.79 billion baht to have these installed. But the network has found the bidding process did not comply with all of the regulations.

Mr Wiwat said he suspected the bidders did not compete fairly. Even the trolleys used at Suvarnabhumi Airport are problematic, he added.

AoT President, Nitinai Sirismatthakarn, was not available for comment yesterday as of press time.