PUBLISHED: 08:05 on October 21, 2023.
Srisuwan Janya, a political activist, petitioned the Justice Ministry on Friday asking it to convene an investigation into alleged bid rigging in the purchase of out-of-date electronic monitoring ( EM ) ankle bracelets valued at 1.6 billion baht.
Premchai Karnasuta, a design tycoon, was released from Thong Pha Phum jail on Tuesday, prompting the filing of the plea. He was exempt from wearing an EM bracelet, according to the Department of Corrections( DoC ), as the tracker could harm diabetes-related wounds.
According to Mr. Srisuwan, there has long been a problem odor associated with the purchase of EM resources. According to his investigation, academics who were close to the winning bidder formed a Terms of Reference ( ToR ) committee. Yet some council members admitted they had never been to a meeting. The advocate also discovered that the ToR’s and purchasing documents’ required committee names were absent.
He claimed that in light of all these issues, DoC’s senior officials acted carelessly during the purchasing process.
Additionally, the technology is out of date and the features of the EM jewelry have been in use for seven years. The technology is currently more sophisticated, and the sizing is smaller but still strong, similar to a watch. Even if an convict is in a cave or deep water, fresh EM bracelets have better tracking devices, according to Mr. Srisuwan.
But, the Justice Ministry continues to use the same EM bracelet features. This might work in the secret company’s favor, he said.
With a total expenditure of 1.6 billion ringgit, or roughly 73, 333 per collection, 60, 000 EM jewelry have so far been purchased. But, EM jewelry currently cost on average 7,700 baht per collection. If large-lot purchases are made, rates may be lower. The government is getting ready to request a northern budget of 1.2 billion ringgit to buy the identical old EM bracelets. This has to stop, he declared.
He stated,” We demand that the Justice Ministry abandons the innovative procurement program and establishes a committee to investigate.”