Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) has decided to charge former national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda and two senior police officers over their approval of a 2.1 billion baht project to procure a biometric system, to scan faces and fingerprints of passengers at major airports in the country.
The two other officers named in the case are Pol Lt-Gen Tinnapat Phummarin, then commissioner of the Office of Logistics, and Pol Maj-Gen Surapong Chaijan, then deputy commissioner of Region 7 Provincial Police Bureau.
According to the NACC, the charges concern the decision by the three officers to extend the delivery of the biometrics equipment to the Immigration Bureau in a way which was of benefit to the supplier.
According to the contract, the supplier was to deliver the equipment to the Immigration Bureau by May 2nd, 2019, but the delivery deadline was later extended to June 30th of the same year.
Then immigration police commissioner Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn asked Chakthip to cancel the biometric project and lodged a complaint with the NACC seeking an investigation. He claimed that an attempt on his life on January 7th, 2019 was linked to his objection to the project.
In March this year, the NACC also decided to file charges against Chakthip and 45 other individuals over a 900 million baht project to procure 260 “smart” police patrol cars in the 2018-19 fiscal years.
