Army chief clarifies end of airship mission in Thai Far South

BANGKOK, September 22 (TNA) - Army Chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart says that the end of an airship mission in the violence-plagued Thai Far South by the Royal Thai Army is due to its being out of good order. General Chalermchai clarified on Friday that the airship, which was acquired in 2010, faced an accident in 2013 due to the weather condition, causing the airship to make an emergency landing for a repair. General Chalermchai told journalists that the airship could continue its mission on aerial surveys and support of raiding and searching operations of suspected insurgents by local security forces for a certain period of time before it broke down again and an army panel resolved that its mission should be ended, instead of a new repair, based on the best cost-benefit analysis of its mission. The army chief revealed that the Royal Thai Army then sold the aging airship last month at the price of 66 million baht, from its acquired price of 340 million baht. The army chief affirmed that the airship mission, the first of its kind in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has fully met the Royal Thai Army's target in terms of helping reduce violent incidents in the Thai Far South, stressing that he is ready to clarify to the Office of the Auditor General of Thailand on the acquirement and the mission of the airship. According to the Thai army chief, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) once launched a probe on military procedures and the price of the acquired airship and found no irregularity. (TNA)