Many questions remain unanswered following the arrest of ex-city police chief Kamronwit Thoopkrachang by Japanese airport security when he tried to bring a gun and ammunition on board a plane returning home to Thailand.
Answers are needed from Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit and the airport authorities.
The man at the centre of the scandal reportedly told Japanese authorities he unintentionally took the gun with him as he had forgotten that he kept it in his medicine box.
As a former senior police officer, he should know all firearms must be declared in advance if they are to be brought on board a plane.
Once declared, airline officials must take possession of the firearm which will be handed over to the passenger when he arrives at his destination.
Another question Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit must answer is why he did not declare the gun when he was boarding the plane to Thailand.
The key questions for Thai airport authorities are: Why was the gun not detected during security checks? Was he checked at all?
Transport Minister Prajin Juntong insisted that although Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit used a VIP channel and his luggage and carry-on bags were properly checked, the airport security system did not find any gun or bullets the day he left for Japan.
Airports of Thailand (AoT) board chairman Prasong Poontanaet and AoT president Nitinat Sirismatthakarn echoed this. They insisted the CTX luggage scanners used at Suvarnabhumi airport were calibrated to detect explosives, bullets, even gunpowder residue — but not guns.
Despite these responses and efforts to show the media the scanning process yesterday, public doubts and mistrust remain.
Suvarnabhumi airport handles more than 45 million passengers a year. Their safety depends on the efficiency of the airport security checking system, which is now under serious doubt. Thai officials owe the international community more than verbal explanations.
Airport authorities need to produce hard evidence to show Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit did indeed go through strict security checks, the same as other passengers. They must show the public the X-ray images of his luggage and carry-on bags.
Words are not enough. They will be viewed as mere excuses, if not a cover-up of lapses in security checks and negligence — which is the prevalent public belief right now.
Like it or not, the public has come to its own conclusions about the Kamronwit gun scandal. As soon as the news broke, social media was flooded with anger, not at the lax security checks system, but at the glaring double standard.
While ordinary citizens have to go through strict checks at the airport, it is common knowledge that the rich and powerful routinely receive the red carpet treatment via VIP channels.
Actually, it would come as no surprise if such checks on these VIPs are only ceremonial — if there are any at all.
It is also no secret that the rich and powerful get special treatment upon their arrival. Officials are sent to escort and whisk them and their luggage through security checks.
The arrest of Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit not only heightens concerns over loopholes in airport security, but also exposes the country's deeply-entrenched privilege system that tramples on the rule of law.
Despite having the best security checks technology, there is little hope airport authorities will be able to restore public trust when this privilege system prevails, or for the government — for that matter — to battle corruption and social inequality.