Admiral Bannawit Ken-grian, head of the NLA committee for transport and adviser to the Airports of Thailand (AOT) chairman, said six of the broken scanners had damaged X-ray radiators. Replacements would be imported with permission from the Nuclear Science and Technology Knowledge Centre.

"We don't know yet when these six machines will be fixed," he said, adding that the other four machines were slightly damaged but still required spare parts.

Bannawit dismissed previous reports that the breakdown was caused by officials inserting other programs into the computer running the scanners.

He said the computer was "specialised" and people could not just insert other programs into it. He said the problem arose because the machines received discontinuous voltage supply causing them to shut down. Restarting the scanners "did not help", he added.

As for the repair expenses, Bannawit said GE InVision Inc, the American company that supplied the machines, would be responsible because it was within the warranty period.

He also affirmed that the CTX malfunction would not affect airport security, as officials will check passengers' baggage personally.

The airport had baggage-handling problems due to the breakdown of the scanners on Wednesday night, prompting the AOT to bring in 100 military personnel to help carry passengers' baggage.

Currently, nine CTX machines are working in the east wing of the terminal and seven in the west wing.

Bannawit said his committee's inspection of the airport's taxiway and runway yesterday found that only 30 per cent of the damage had been fixed.

The committee will soon ask AoT board chairman, General Saprang Kalayanamitr to change the board members and executives because they had failed to do their jobs efficiently, according to Bannawit.