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Published on October 15, 2007

The letter said Ukraine company NGV did not submit the bidding within the deadline but won the deal.

"The fact that NGV did not forward the bidding within the deadline shows that it did not comply with the conditions and shows that the company was given favour over other companies since it would learn about the specifications of other bidders and it finally won the Army's bidding,'' the letter said.

The report was released to the media after Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas on Saturday suspended the controversial arms deal between Thailand and Ukraine.

The office's letter said Ukraine BTR-3EI APCs were not of suitable quality because they were not newly produced or of a new design but were modified from rubber-wheeled Russian BTR-70 APCs, sales of which have been suspended.

The rubber wheels cannot withstand a hit from 7.62 millimetre-size bullets.

The letter said a complaint made by NGV to then Army commander General Sonthi Boonyaratglin did not have an endorsement from the Army as required. An Army panel that went to Ukraine failed to report problems with the APC model to officials.

"Even though these qualities were not indicated in the bidding, to use these APCs in the South is not practical. The Russian government's representatives said Ukraine does not have the technology to produce bullet-proof wheels,'' a source from the office said.

There is also ambiguity over the speed and load for this model. Ukraine officials once said it could carry nine soldiers but later changed the load to "11 plus two" because the specification indicated no fewer than 11 soldiers.

NGV claimed the model could travel at 100 kilometres per hour on land and 10kph through water, but it is known that the Russian BRT-80 APC can travel at only 80kph on land and 9kph through water. The procurement deal has caused a rift in the Defence Ministry, pitting Admiral Banawit Kengrien against Sonthi. The incident resulted in the transfer of Banawit to an inactive post, reportedly because he was too outspoken about the deal.\

Bancha Khaengkhan

The Nation