Arms procurement to be discussed during PM’s visit to Russia

[webfact]

Arms procurement to be discussed during PM’s visit to Russia



BANGKOK: -- Arms procurement which include Russian-made helicopters and tanks is one of the issues that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha will discuss with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, during his visit to Russia on May 17-19 to attend the Asean-Russia summit.

The prime minister said Monday that several helicopters of the Thai armed forces have been in service for 3-4 decades and they need to be replaced through procurement from foreign countries such as Russian because Thailand is not capable of producing them.

He maintained that the government would procure armaments from several countries, including Russia, to replace the ageing weaponry. He said that his government has wanted more than just weaponry procurement but also training, technology transfer and maintenance centre with the help of arms providers.

The prime minister said that the arms to be purchased from foreign countries must be reliable and of good quality and not because they are cheap.

He said he had met Mr Medvedev a couple of times in the past and had told the latter of the need for both Thailand and Russia to move forward into the future for the next 20 years.

Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the formal relations between Thailand and Russia.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/163529


-- Thai PBS 2016-05-17

[Thechook]

Russia, China, North Korea and Thailand, quite the quartet.

[FourAces]

I like how the woman behind, appears to be giving General P the finger, while trying not to laugh

[NongKhaiKid]

I like how the woman behind, appears to be giving General P the finger, while trying not to laugh

It's the Minister of Tourism and possibly using her fingers to count tourist arrivals.

[BigBadGeordie]

Poor reporting from Thai PBS or lost in translation.

I cannot believe that the PM said or even eluded that "Thailand is not capable of producing them (helicopters)."

Edited May 16, 2016 by BigBadGeordie

[chainarong]

Poor reporting from Thai PBS or lost in translation.

I cannot believe that the PM said or even eluded that "Thailand is not capable of producing them (helicopters)."

I think from new design up they would struggle, however using a OEM they would do pretty fine I'd say.

[Colabamumbai]

More arms, because Thailand is at war with itself.

[chainarong]

Russia, China, North Korea and Thailand, quite the quartet.

Thechook is this all interchangeable with the US gear ???

[wabothai]

I like how the woman behind, appears to be giving General P the finger, while trying not to laugh

that is cobkarn doing her counting.

[razer]

Guaranteed to make a best buddy on the world stage if we are talking about billions in arms purchases.

Who will be the best buddy? ... USA?... France? ... UK? ... Russia?

Russia looks to be the most loyal best buddy to buy.

[tuanku]

Poor reporting from Thai PBS or lost in translation.

I cannot believe that the PM said or even eluded that "Thailand is not capable of producing them (helicopters)."

Not capable of making helicopters? of course they are;

[tuanku]

Because the most important thing for Thailand is to get the army more toys!

[Srikcir]

the arms to be purchased from foreign countries must be

Made with exchanges of rubber, rice, pork, chicken and seafood.

The Russian consumers are experiencing shortages from Putin's ban on EU products and so the Thai Junta finds itself an easy partner with Putin to help Putin extend the ban. But Prayut has put the Thai government into a 500 billion baht deficit in the first six months of the 2016 fiscal year so there's little cash available for trade deals.

[billd766]

Poor reporting from Thai PBS or lost in translation.

I cannot believe that the PM said or even eluded that "Thailand is not capable of producing them (helicopters)."

Believe it.

To set up any aircraft or helicopter production line is expensive and unless you can make enough to sell to other countries then it will always be a losing proposition.

You would need an airfield with good transportation links to get basic materials to the site, a highly skilled and motivated workforce and management, a good skilled design team, little or no corruption or theft, a good reputation as a manufacturer, a willingness to extend credit etc.

For small countries like Thailand it is always cheaper to buy offshore. Thailand's problem is really to minimise the number of different aircraft and helicopters as that in turn cuts down on the inventory, cost and availability of spare parts and is easier work for the maintenance guys to keep more in the air more of the time.

Even a good reputation such as the Aerospatiale doesn't count for that much when you consider how many of their Super Puma helicopters have crashed in the last few years. See accidents reports towards the bottom of the pages.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_AS332_Super_Puma

An example is here about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/boeings-787-dreamliner-faces-new-challenge-of-slow-sales/ar-BBt5MWY

Boeing has sold 1,154 so far, making it the fastest-selling wide-body plane when it came to market. However, the tally falls short of the 1,300 planes Boeing is using as the basis of deferring the charges in its accounting.

[weecree]

This government is like a 10 year old who found the family savings and went on a shopping spree with their mates. Pray that democracy doesnt come soon, because the people who are creating this shit need to sleep in it when the debts need to be repaid. "What do you mean we cant just create massive government projects far in excess of revenue? What do you mean we cant just print more money?" Good luck to the next civilian government thats now on the hook for an upsurge in military spending. I hope PTP (or whatever its soon to be called) completely washes their hands of the next election. Let the democrats win. Let them take the hate when the economy finally buckles. I believe i recall someone saying something about 'populist policies'. From World cup TV purchasing rights through to palm oil and rubber, its been one thing after another. Who the hell is paying for it? Thats right, the next civilian government. Certainly not the people throwing money at every project their heart desires.

Edited May 17, 2016 by weecree

[facthailand]

Healthcare or helicopters? Hmmm. Makes me feel sick!

[elgordo38]

I like how the woman behind, appears to be giving General P the finger, while trying not to laugh

Looks a little like the lady from TAT. Yes we need to do away with pensions and spend the money on helicaptors and tanks and planes. Man what a self serving world we have become. The personal needs of our fellow man have really gone out the window. Edited May 17, 2016 by elgordo38