Thai commander welcomes new submarine centre, despite lack of subs

[Soutpeel]

May be a secret deal with the US to service their subs. Then again if the waters are not deep enough....incredible story !

It's possible. The waters are deep enough for a sub. Just not deep enough for a sub to be effective. Subs prefer VERY deep waters where it is difficult for ships to identify them. The Gulf of Thailand just isn't deep enough for this. Any approaching force would probably be able to track the thing as it patrolled the coast.

A secret deal with the US to service subs would be really funny. Considering the US now has to keep any joint military ventures quiet so the folks back there don't get upset.

The water maybe just deep enough, but also the other thing to consider is the amount of oil and gas infrastructure on the seabed, anyone trying to run a sub up the middle of the gulf would be in for a big surprise if they hit a subsea wellhead, pipeline or PLEM, they would be nuts to even try as they will hit something important

I know there have been a few average water depths thrown about and have no wish to get in arguments over the average depth which is 60m, very few places at 80m depth, the fact remains too shallow to run a submarine in gulf, if they did they would have to be running either a corridor on the east or west, hardly stealth is it ?

[Alwyn]

no back-handers involved there then

[Bender]

if you have a good memory, you might remember few years back, the army did purchase for 50 millions dollars

a dirigible airship. They wanted to use it in south thailand to track down terrorist....

The balloon did never fly once, let be honest the army are like the rest of the country.... completely crooked.

"The balloon did never fly once"

On the contrary, IIRC it was flown for a visit by Yingluck (?) & other poo-yais, but the payload was too heavy, so it bounced and embarassed its military operators.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/604958-thai-armys-airship-crashes-hurts-four/

That articles also gives the cost as having been a slightly-more-modest B350-million, or about US$11-12-million.

oh my bad, thanks for your correction. My memory is finally not so good.

But i clearly remember that when the military did receive their balloon, they didn't even bother to unpack the box.

Till the point their toy was damaged, and they have to return it back to the american company where they make they purchase

for repair it.

The 50 millions DOLLARS i did quote, my bad again, i did confuse it with another scam from the army... you remember the gripen scam.

If i remember "well" the army did purchase each plane 50 millions.

Am i right this time?

Edited July 10, 2014 by Bender

[khwaibah]

Need to be trained on closing the screen door before diving.

Edited July 10, 2014 by khwaibah

[Jim walker]

Thailand Military Intelligence at its very dynamic best.

[Cake Monster]

This reminds me of a classic " Dads Army " episode screened in the Uk back in the 80,s , and repeated very often, even today.

The troop had no guns for drill parades, so Capt.Mainwaring issued the guys with broom handles.

Upon command they shouted " bangety - Bang " and when on bayonet drill " Stabity - stab "

I suppose the Thais will shout " glugety - glug " when they are praticing a dive .

Priceless

[wilcopops]

Between the 2006 coup and the start of the yingluck govt, the military saw a doubling of their budget. I suppose we'll see a similar rise this time?

[wilcopops]

Thailand Military Intelligence at its very dynamic best.

is there an oxymoron in that statement?

[ginjag]

Between the 2006 coup and the start of the yingluck govt, the military saw a doubling of their budget. I suppose we'll see a similar rise this time?

Similar to workers here 150 per day to 300 min......stupid of me to point that out but !!!!

Also I have an Idea PTP didn't do bad out of their deal !!!

[laocowboy2]

Coming soon ..... the Buriram International Space Centre

[SOMeTOM]

Where is the threat to come from ??? Burma, Malaysia Indonesia Singapore ???

Complete waste of time even considering the Sub subject.

http://www.newsweek.com/2014/07/18/japan-rethinks-its-pacifist-constitution-alarming-its-neighbors-257704.html/

Maybe TIT want to make a pre-emptive strike before it's too late, it's called the "Walking Catfish Migration's Tactic".....

[tx22cb]

Coming soon - the Air Force to announce the launch of Thailand's Inter-Galaxy Space Programme.

Tourism Authority of Thailand to jump on the band-wagon by initiating a 40 million Baht "Thailand Welcomes all Aliens" campaign.

[belg]

why not a space station ?

[soalbundy]

Before they lease old submarines from Germany they should consider buying a whole fleet of jet skis, velly good velly cheap.When they go on military exercises with the US they can charge them twice the cost for the damage that the American aircraft carrier caused them.

[JAG]

One can just imagine those old white sweater boys wandering around Soi Cowboy on Submariner training missions with their Thai counterparts and reporting their depths and positions at midnight.

Can you just imagine the confusion when they meet up with all the retired ( but still doing some consulting work when needed) special forces operatives!

Incidentally, jolly sweaty wandering around Soi Cowboy in a white rollneck sweater and a duffel coat!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited July 10, 2014 by JAG

[jimbeam1]

Unbelievable.

Why the heck does anyone need a sub in the gulf of Thailand. Or are those pesky illegal Cambodians sneaking in from the sea these days.

I know a guy who has a used U boat for sale, anyone interested, only $100 million.

You say that, I seem to remember that some time after dear yinnee came into office she anounced that they were going to buy 4 old German U boats.

jb1

[surangw]

the real money is made all along the supply line keeping decrepit military machines running with spare parts

[techboy]

in the gulf , it wouldnt be able to submerge as its not deep enough, they would be stuck in the mud . These people have some very strange ideas, they need to realize you need deep water for subs to be able to operate as they are designed, I can imagine seeing a thai sub cruising along the surface of the gulf then suddenly coming to a grinding halt as it hits the bottom or the arse end sticking out of the water when it attempts to dive

I just checked and it is true that much of The Gulf of Thailand is only around 60 meters. However frankly I do not know if that truely makes subs of no value there or how much it limits their maximum potential. And neither do you. I am willing to bet you have cued off a bit of information here to manufacture your unimaginative, lame brained wise cracks. Just a "no life" trying to look savvy. C'mon "Admiral" tell us about subs in deepwater vs. shallow.

[Trouble]

One post deleted. Please exercise care in your criticism of the military in Thailand.

Sorry I missed this post. It must have been a good one. This whole thread makes the Thai military a laughing stock. Stories like this bring out the best in TV posters. I haven't laughed so much in ages. I wish most threads were this good.

[oldsailor35]

If that white line is the water mark (lode line) then she will be mud hopping around the gulf !

[oldsailor35]

Perhaps this navy commander should review the speech in 2007 where His Majesty

said Thailand had no need for submarines due to the fact the Gulf of Thailand was too shallow

for effective submarine operations........ I am amazed the navy is going against his wishes.

If they are worried about submarines of other countries, then perhaps they should contact

America and buy some of their sub hunting aircraft. But not carrier launched. :-)

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/thailand/ssk.htm

"In HM the King's 80th birthday speech in 2007, King Bhumibol used his birthday eve speech to admonish the navy for recently expressing the wish to buy a submarine. His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Tuesday called for national unity in a classic birthday-eve speech that covered a wide range of topics including global-warming, the wisdom of buying submarines and his reason for wearing a pink jacket recently. The King noted that submarines were unsuitable for Thailand, as the Gulf of Thailand is a notoriously shallow body of water."

A notoriously shallow body of water ! Surely you cannot expect the navy to know that .