Purchase of expensive mics for Government House controversial

Nice expression in English: to face the music. Sounds less visual in Dutch: facing the consequences. And that's what those responsible for procuring super-expensive microphones for Government House will have to do.

The Court of Audit will conduct an in-depth investigation into the tender, because the budgeted price is much too high. The c-word is missing from today's opening article from Bangkok Post; it is only talked about overpricing of the Bosch microphone, model DCNM-MMD.

The Public Works and Town and Country Planning website quotes a figure of 145.000 baht each, but director-general Monthon Sudprasert says this is an estimate.

The final price is still to be negotiated. The supplier has already dropped to 94.250 baht, after a fuss about it last week; the newspaper took a look at Bosch's website and saw that they cost 55.000 baht.

Monthon held a press conference yesterday to defend himself against the overpricing accusation. He was accompanied by the installer and the dealer. I cannot follow his defence, as presented by the newspaper, but I am inclined to dismiss it as a 'smoke screen'. Monthon says that the desired model was also used during the nuclear energy summit in the Netherlands.

The microphones are intended for the large conference room in the Bancharnkarn 1 building, one of the buildings on the grounds of the Government House. According to yesterday's newspaper, a number have been placed on probation; the newspaper writes today (on its website) that they are all already in use.

Plasma screens and clocks

In addition to the microphones, the newspaper also pays attention to the purchase of 28 plasma screens for two meeting rooms (cost 15,37 million baht). The newspaper writes that the model to be purchased uses outdated technology; more modern models would also be cheaper.

A second article discusses the purchase of digital clocks for the parliament building. Eleven civil servants would have to appear in court. The 200 bells were purchased last year for an amount of 14,8 million baht.

The Secretariat of the House of Representatives has instructed its lawyers to file charges after being informed by the Court of Auditors about the controversial purchase. A committee of the NCPO (junta) has also delved into the matter. He has discovered that twenty officials are involved.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Sept. 11, 2014)