Allegations of systemic corruption have emerged as a key factor behind two recent Royal Thai Police aircraft crashes that killed nine officers earlier this year, raising concerns over long-standing issues with aircraft maintenance and budget transparency.
The Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT) has attributed two fatal police aircraft accidents to deep-rooted corruption rather than pilot error. The crashes occurred in April and May 2025, with one aircraft going down off the coast of Cha-am in Phetchaburi province, and the other in Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Muang district.
In a recent statement, ACT president Mana Nimitmongkol pointed to inadequate and opaque maintenance procedures driven by corruption as the main cause of the incidents. He cited internal messages from a police pilot suggesting that the aircraft were unfit for flight.
The Royal Thai Police currently operates a fleet of 82 aircraft, over half of which are more than 25 years old. Several of the Bell-212 helicopters in service are reportedly over 50 years old. Despite the aging fleet, the maintenance budget has remained fixed at 950 million baht annually.
According to ACT, this amount falls short of actual maintenance needs and may be deliberately kept low to avoid the cabinet-level scrutiny that would come with higher budget requests. Only around 10 aircraft in the fleet are considered safe to operate, according to pilot reports cited by ACT.
Maintenance is shared between in-house RTP technicians and Thai Airways, which receives 142 million baht per year for its role. However, most of the fleet requires servicing by third-party firms due to Thai Airways’ limited capabilities. These companies are often selected through non-transparent procurement processes allegedly influenced by senior police officials.
ACT has raised concerns that these opaque practices lead to kickbacks and inflated costs, with aircraft cannibalisation—removing parts from grounded planes to service others—now common. Mana called for a comprehensive review of the aircraft maintenance system, warning that corruption across multiple agencies continues to put lives at risk.
Senior officials and aviation personnel were present at both crash investigations and follow-up inspections, though ACT’s focus has remained firmly on structural issues within the procurement and budgeting process.
