Transcript of CNN GT200 report, February 16, 2010
Dan Rivers in Bangkok (Try English first. For Thai click here.)Now it’s been revealed that for six years efforts to combat the terrorists have been undermined by a bomb scanner that scientists say is completely useless. The GT200 is supposed to indicate the presence of explosives and the maker claims the antenna picks up traces when linked to these special cards. But some scientists say it’s an expensive hoax.
So the government finally agreed to carry out tests to see if the device would indicate which box contained explosives. Officials made a great show of the elaborate security to prove the tests weren’t rigged, but when the envelopes were finally opened, a rather sheepish prime minister had to admit the GT200 is useless.
PM Abhisit: The equipment was only successful in discovering 20 percent of the cases when just a random choice would give you 25 percent, so there’s no statistical significance to having this equipment.
CNN’s Dan Rivers: Would you consider legal action against the company that sold them to Thailand?
PM: We will look into that possibility.
DR: We tried to talk to the Thai distributors of the GT200 AVIA SATCOM at their backstreet office in Bangkok…
“And there’s no email or anything we can take, no contact numbers…”
But they wouldn’t help. This is the website of the UK manufacturers Global Technical. Their corporate video claims the device can be used to find more than explosives, everything from ivory to drugs. Global Technical issued a statement saying they are surprised and disappointed by the test results, adding they are completely at odds at what they said were other independent tests and with the experience of users around the world.
But explosives expert Sidney Alford says the idea of using what is effectively akin to a water douser is patently ridiculous.
Sidney Alford: “There is no electronics. I would expect there to be some sort of electronic device. If a person I trusted told me this worked, I would expect to see electronic components here. Certainly, some electronic components in this large piece of apparatus.”
But Thailand isn’t the only country which security experts say have been duped. Thousands of similar devices have been sold in Iraq and Afghanistan. The UK government has banned the export of similar technology from a different company. It’s not clear if the GT200 will also be banned.
The critics of this device say it’s nothing more than an elaborate hoax, a complete con that doesn’t perform any function and it’s merely an empty plastic case with effectively a car aerial on the top that retails for thousands and thousands of dollars.
The Thai government bought some 700 devices at a cost of more than 20 million dollars. The bill is even bigger when you consider the eight-day training given for operators, provided by the manufacturer. Global Technical says 30 governments around the world have bought the GT200. The Thai government says Iraq and Afghanistan also bought the technology, raising the question how many lives have been lost because bombs made it past security checks that didn’t work. Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.