Kasetsart University researchers have accused the army of filing false information in alleging they used fake certificates to support a bid to produce gas masks for the military.
Assoc Prof Weerachai Phutdhawong of the department of chemistry at Kasetsart University's faculty of liberal arts and science was accompanied by his research team when he arrived at the Crime Suppression Division to file their complaint on Thursday.
They complained that Maj Gen Saksit Chueasomboon, director of the Army Research and Development Office (ARDO), and subordinate Col Kong Chainarong had wrongfully claimed his team did not develop a gas mask itself but instead bought an imported gas mask and presented fake testing certificates.
The ARDO filed a complaint with the Crime Suppression Bureau on Feb 9.
"The team designed and made the mask itself in all production stages including design, moulds, mask production and tests in a gas chamber. All were photographed and foreign certificates are standard," Mr Weerachai said.
Their lawyer, Ananchai Chaidet, said the research team's certificates came from an international institute in the Czech Republic, one of the five standards institutes that check gas masks for quality.
Mr Ananchai totally rejected the army's claim the research team had caused damage amounting to 150 million baht. The team received a budget of only 3.8 million baht for its research, he said, and 150 million baht was the budget set aside for production of the masks, which had not occurred.
If production did go ahead it would be greatly beneficial to the nation, he said. The team's gas mask would cost only 8,000 baht, while an imported one cost 20,000 baht.
Maj Gen Saksit on Thursday hastened to say his office did not file the complaint out of any vested interest by the army.
"In fact we wish the project to be successful, so that we will not have to import the masks. We have supported research and development... but we want quality products supported with real certificates," he said.
The research project for gas masks that protect users from nuclear, biochemical and chemical attack is being carried out under a memorandum of understanding between his office and the Office of the Higher Education Commission to support research by local education institutes and to depend on locally developed and produced masks, Maj Gen Saksit said.
The government supported the research, with local rubber to be a raw material used in the masks.
However, the army found out that four certificates presented to support the research team's product were fake and terminated the project, he said.
"The action was taken to prevent damage that could occur if the masks were produced and used in the government sector," Maj Gen Saksit said.
