The Protection Ministry has looked after its decision to rent Mercedes-Benz S500s and S400s to get senior officers, stating regular budgets that could be accounted for were used.
Gen Worakiat Ratananant, permanent secretary designed for defence, explained the situation to a House panel scrutinising defence spending budget allocations as part of vetting the national spending budget on Monday.
He has been responding to Somchai Srisutthiyakorn, who sits within the House committee plus demanded an explanation to a claim the military were spending considerable amounts on renting the particular vehicles for 36 senior officers.
Gen Worakiat said that under the ministry’s old criteria, older military officers will be provided with cars for use, but the criteria were later revised to give them travel allowances instead, like officials at other ministries.
The senior colonel gets 25, 400 baht while a major general receives 31, 800 baht and 41, 000 baht can be given to a lieutenant-general and a general, Gen Worakiat said.
He was adamant that cars provided for the permanent admin for defence, the deputy permanent admin for defence and leaders of the army, navy and atmosphere force are not for personal use.
The vehicles are intended to support the work of the ministry, with techniques for the command of operations to respond to urgent missions, Style Worakiat said. Therefore , high-calibre cars are essential for this purpose and regular budgets are used to lease them, not clandestine ones, he stated.
On Monday, Mr Somchai posted on Fb that he wanted the particular armed forces to justify spending taxpayers’ money on renting high-class vehicles.
The armed forces then sent him the letter explaining that the vehicles are intended since “command vehicles” and they are paid for by a normal budget requested from the Budget Bureau, Mister Somchai posted. He added that he has requested details on the number of such vehicles were rented.