Air Force Commander explains the issue of Air Force personnel accepting bribes from a US company to buy asphalt spreaders, pointing out that personal behavior is beyond control, confirming that the current procurement is transparent and can be inspected. Air Chief Marshal Panphakdi Pattanakul, Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Air Force, spoke about the case of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) penalizing Deere and Company, which operates tractors under the name John Deere, after finding information about bribery to Thai officials in the Royal Thai Air Force in exchange for business returns. He said that he had been informed. The incident occurred between 2019-2020 and was a general procurement. The project was in the form of E-bidding procurement. The company could not be selected, but it was seen which company offered the best price and most in line with the specifications. However, personal and individual actions are not known. This incident happened in the past. Currently, the Royal T hai Air Force is trying to do everything in accordance with the regulations of the Comptroller General's Department, Budget Bureau. If it is beyond control, it is a personal matter. He really does not know, but he believes that the Royal Thai Air Force does everything transparently and can be verified. He also believes that it is not related to the case where the Royal Thai Air Force chose the Gripen aircraft instead of the US F-16, which is why this news was released. When asked if it affected the image of the Air Force, even though it was a personal action, ACM Panpakdee said that we know what we do well. If we believe in ourselves that what we do will not affect us, and the Air Force under his supervision has done everything transparently and fairly, all benefits belong to the Air Force and the people. When asked what mission the company was buying the tractors for, Air Chief Marshal Panpakdee explained that the company also sells other equipment. The Air Force did not buy the tractors, but bought asphal t spreaders used for paving the airport. Source: Thai News Agency
