A number of air force personnel have been detained on suspicion of stealing jet fuel to sell to civilians outside the base in Ubon Ratchathani, a Royal Thai Air Force spokesman said on Friday.
Air force military police rounded up the suspects at Wing 21 in Muang district and a fact-finding panel has been formed to consider disciplinary and legal action against them, said Pongsak Semachai, deputy director-general of the Directorate of Civil Affairs.
AVM Pongsak, who is the air force spokesman, refused to go into detail on the number and ranks of those arrested. He said they would face decisive punishment if they are found to have committed wrongdoing.
The arrests followed an operation with officers from the Muang district police station to capture a civilian whose name was not released. The suspect said the fuel had been supplied by the personnel at the air base.
Wing 21 had detected unusually high demand for fuel for aircraft at the base and officers there started a covert investigation, which finally led to the arrests.