The Assets Examination Committee is currently investigating the Bt6.68-billion deal.

The deal can be traced back to 2004, when then interior minister Bhokin Bhalakula signed an memorandum of understanding with the Austrian ambassador to Thailand to purchase fire trucks, fire boats and other fire-fighting equipment for the Bangkok Fire and Rescue Department.

The then acting Bangkok governor Samak Sundaravej signed the purchase agreement just before his term ended. The Austrian company Steyr Daimler Puch was named the supplier.

Current Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin signed a letter of credit that put the purchase agreement into effect.

Deputy Bangkok Governor Panich Vikitsreth yesterday said Steyr Daimler Puch's parent company, which is based in the United States, had already rejected the BMA's request to defer payment of the first instalment.

According to the agreement for the deal, the first instalment of about Bt845 million must be paid to the supplier via its bank by February 10.

Because the due date falls on a Saturday, the payment can be made by the next working day, which is February 12.

Panich said the BMA would have to pay 40 per cent of the first instalment, while the central government would pay the balance amount.

"The actual amount to be paid can differ depending on rate of exchange. The agreement has put the figure in euros," he said.

Panich explained that the BMA and the government could still reclaim the money after payment if the agreement was voided due to breaches of contract by the supplier.

"But if the investigations confirm the deal is mired in corruption, we have to negotiate with the supplier," he said.

In a related development, Deputy Bangkok Governor Wallop Suwandee said the BMA had not yet accepted any of the fire boats and fire trucks from the supplier even though two batches of them had already arrived in the country.