The National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) will conduct a scientific test on the GT 200 bomb detector in Pathum Thani tomorrow to establish whether the device - seen by many as merely an expensive dowsing rod - is effective in finding explosive substances.
The test will take place at Thailand Science Park's Sirindhorn Science Home and will involve 30 operators of the bomb detector, 30 members of the investigating committee and 10 independent observers, Nectec director Pansak Siriruchatapong said yesterday.
The committee will place 20 grams of C4 explosive packed in a plastic box and hide it - as well as three empty boxes - in a building. Operators will then use the GT200 in an attempt to detect the box containing the explosive.
The test will be conducted 20 times to establish a viable picture of the GT200's success rate, Pansak said.
The Science and Technology Ministry will submit a full report of the test to the Cabinet on Tuesday, he added.
No journalists or other observers will be allowed within 200 metres of the testing area. Live television coverage will also be prohibited.
The investigating committee will not cut off mobilephone signals in the vicinity, but officials will not be allowed to bring communication equipment into the testing area, said Pansak.
The effectiveness of the bomb detector, which is widely used among security agencies - notably the Army - in the restive deep South, has been questioned since a BBC investigative report showed that the virtually identical GT200 and ADE 651 devices were of no use in locating explosives.
The United Kingdom has banned exports of the ADE 651 and warned foreign governments that the detectors are wholly ineffective in detecting bombs.
Scientific tests by the US Department of Justice found that the performance of bomb detectors using the same technology as the GT200 was equivalent to random chance.
The GT200 detector requires no battery but uses static electricity from the operator's body to generate energy in scanning magnetic signals from an explosive substance.
Scientists said the static electricity from the operator's body was theoretically insufficient to amplify magnetic power and detect any substance in a remote location.
