The Royal Thai Navy has ordered the immediate transfer of officers accused of involvement in oil theft and procurement irregularities at its logistics base in Trat province, pending a full investigation.
Spokesman Rear Adm Parach Rattanachaiphan said the First Naval Area commander has ordered a probe into the allegations and temporarily transferred the accused officers to its headquarters to prevent interference.
On the claim that conscripts were deployed for private work, Rear Adm Parach said the navy has already investigated such abuse of conscripts, found grounds for the allegations and taken action against those responsible.
The navy’s clarifications are in response to People’s Party MP Chetawan Tuaprakhon, who said the House committee on military affairs received three complaints about misconduct and irregularities in the navy.
The first involved the use of conscripts for work at private ferry piers in Trat’s Laem Ngop and Koh Chang, while the other two involved the alleged smuggling of fuel out of the base and irregularities in procurement contracts for logistics operations in Trat.
Mr Chetawan said fuel logs indicated repeated withdrawals of 1,000 litres for “backhoes,” raising suspicions of fraud, while photos showed pickup trucks leaving the base with large fuel tanks.
Regarding irregularities in procurement contracts, 16% was deducted from the contracts, raising questions about whether receipts were issued without the actual delivery of goods, according to the MP.