He said a major software upgrade of the CTX 9200 scanners was needed to ensurethey could detect new types of weapons.
The order came after former Metropolitan Police Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang arrived at Suvarnabhumi at 3.30 Tuesday afternoon from Japan after being detained on weapons charges in that country.
The ex-police chief was detained by Japanese police when a gun and ammunition was found in his luggage at Narita airport in Tokyo on June 22, when he was about toboard a flight back to Thailand. He was released on Monday after prosecutors decided not to indict him.
Media outlets said Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit told Japanese authorities he hadunintentionally stashed a handgun and ammunition in his luggage when travelling to Japan last month. Scanners at Suvarnabhumi did not detect the weapon.
Pol Lt Gen Amnuay Nimmano, chief of Provincial Police Region 1, will lead aninvestigation into the former police chief's case, said assistant national police chiefPrawut Thawornsiri, who is also national police spokesman.
Police will ask the Japanese embassy in Thailand to help them obtain Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit's written statements and contact witnesses, said Pol Lt Gen Amnuay. Investigators also want to ask the ex-police chief where he obtained the weapon, as it was not registered.
ACM Prajin said he told the Airport of Thailand Plc. (AoT) and other agencies to wait for the results of a separate police investigation into how the former police chief, intentionally or not, could have taken the weapon undetected through Suvarnabhumi.
An AoT source, however, said the scanners had undergone a major software change recently, and software maintenance was implemented regularly.
Asked why the scanners always passed regular inspections by the US Transportation Security Administration if they couldn't detect guns, ACM Prajin said it depended on how the machines were programmed. "I don't want to jump to conclusions as to whose fault it was at this point. [All I can say is] we have to admit the gun slipped through security checks, or in other words was brought onto the plane and flown out of the country without permission," he said.
The matter raised more concerns than he wanted to discuss for fear this might highlight problems the Federal Aviation Administration might find in its next inspection of Thai aviation standards