Thailand approves China sub purchase
Source: Agencies | 00:01 UTC+8 April 25, 2017
THAILAND’S Cabinet has approved the first of
three planned submarine purchases from China worth US$393 million, a government
spokesman said yesterday.
The plan to buy the three Chinese-built
submarines worth 36 billion baht (US$1.05 billion) was confirmed in July,
signaling warming ties since relations with the United States cooled after a
May 2014 military coup.
“The Cabinet approved one submarine purchase
on April 18,” spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters, adding that a
budget of 13.5 billion baht (US$393 million) has been earmarked for the Yuan
Class S26T submarine over a six-year period.
The media were not told about the purchase
following a meeting last week because it was a matter of national security, he
added.
Navy spokesman Admiral Jumpol Loompikanon
said the Thai navy owned four Japanese submarines nearly 60 years ago, so new
submarines were necessary to protect maritime interests.
“Thai people can rest assured that the navy’s
submarine spending will be worth it and beneficial to Thailand,” Jumpol told
reporters.
Thailand’s navy chief, Admiral Na Arreenich,
will visit China soon to finalize the purchase, a source at the defence ministry
said.
Maritime security is a hot issue in Southeast
Asia, given competing claims over the South China Sea, but Thailand is not a
claimant in that dispute.
Thailand’s defense budget this year is more
than 210 billion baht, about 9 percent more than the year the military took
power.
Original post: shanghaidaily.com
It seems the Royal Thai Navy have been receiving flak from a certain group of people!
Take for example the post below:
Sorry no English
In short it says "The Navy submarine acquisition budget is not from the Central government budget but from the Navy's own budget. The author does not understand all the fuse against the purchase"
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