A letter issued on November 24 by Ann Bacher, commercial counsellor at the embassy, urges the ministry to carefully examine the authenticity of a brand of neck braces bought for the 232 emergency vehicles.

According to the letter, the brace supplier has informed the embassy it did not supply its products to the ministry and has no idea how they got on the ambulances' list of medical equipment.

The company and the embassy are, therefore, concerned that the neck braces in question could be fake or defective, which is why an investigation is needed, the source said.

Dr Panya Sornkom, who heads the ministry-assigned committee probing the alleged irregularities involving the ambulance purchase contract, said he had seen the letter from Bacher.

His team has already asked the Food and Drug Administration to issue letters of certification for medical equipment on the ambulances, Panya said. His panel will check whether the neck splints are genuine. If not, it would be the responsibility of the supplier, Toyota Motor Thailand, he added.

The source also said Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka had written to Prat, stating that an Office of Auditor-General (OAG) examination of two such ambulances on November 20 found five items not in accordance with the purchase contract's terms of reference.

The items in question are oxygen cylinder valves, spine boards, beds, wheelchairs and ambulance flooring, the source said.

The OAG has requested a reply from the ministry within 45 days.

Panya yesterday attended a press conference where 12 high-performance ambulances were randomly selected in front of media members.

The 12 vehicles will be checked against the purchase contract specs at the Rajamangala University of Technology Phra Nakhon North Bangkok Campus today and tomorrow.

Each of the 232 high-performance ambulances nationwide will be checked for every item found not to be in accordance with the contract, Panya said.