At least they will now be able to cross those pesky moats at temples easily, and without being seen.

Those submarines will probably been moored until the Navy has paid the 40% import tax.

Why  so coy about this bizarre deal? The cat has been out of the weeks - and in any case, the flag flying from the conning tower of the tin fish in the photo is an obvious giveaway (well done the sub-editor who chose it!).

 

Expect more of the same coy nonsense as the junta bends over backwards and every which way to keep onside with the rival superpowers jousting for dominance in the Asia Pacific. 

18 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Hope its a yellow one.

regards worgeordie

I hope they make a movie about it as well.

16 hours ago, ikke said:

This is news from exactly one month ago.....

 

"Thailand has confirmed a budget of $380 million to procure the first of three S26T submarines from China, Thai officials said on Wednesday"

So, I expect the above 380 million was quoted in dollars as it sounds so much cheaper than the 13.5 billion bahts quoted in the latest article and many casual readers  might not fully appreciate the difference.    That of course is only the purchase price, so does not include all the running costs, which in addition to the usual over-staffing, (who knows?) might even include an element of regular maintenance.

 

I cannot help wondering how much it costs to recover a mal-functioned or water-filled submarine off the sea floor somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand, assuming of course that it ever leaves base.  

 

18 hours ago, clockman said:

Disgusting, ! So many other deserving uses for the money. But let these people grub in the trough.!

A true statement. We are not Thai bashers just realists. I guess to some here that is a crime. 

I think the holdup is that China wanted to know if they wanted the subs with or without toilets. Fill the torpedo tubes and save money. 

Must be  nice to go shopping with the voters checkbook. I will take 3 of those and 5 of these etc. No accountability what so ever. 

17 hours ago, BigBadGeordie said:

While the United States Navy is runner up on this list of the 10 largest submarine fleets in the world, it is arguably the most capable. While most of the countries on this list have fleets that are largely diesel-electric, the entire fleet of the US Navy is nuclear powered. The US has a large number of Los Angeles class attack submarine. In fact, around 40 of these are currently in service. Largely built between the 1970s and 1990s, these submarines cost some $1 billion each. The USA has already begun to replace these with newer submarines in the form of the Virginia Class which come with a whopping $2.7 billion price tag.

I guess Trump will have to cut more meals for the needy students, lay off more civil servants and crack down on more workers benefits and fiddle with SS and Medicare to pay for this. Shades of Rompin Ronnie. When you compare Thailand with the USA things are equal but the US is just more sophisticated at hiding things and slipping them through the cracks. Its amazing how politicians get their thinking so warped. God complex

Edited March 8, 20179 yr by elgordo38

I think Prawit should give them the hatches waist test as I understand that the forces enforcers are putting on the beef. Here is another place they should investigate for subs its listed a little further down on the topics page.  Pay on delivery with Thailand's largest online shopping site

What do they need submarines for? Submarine Races?

9 hours ago, colinneil said:

When and if the government go ahead with this folly, they can allow the public to tour the idle subs.

Thai 20 baht farang 400 baht. Plenty of money then for maintenance      

Oops my mistake, i said maintenance they  dont understand the meaning.,

If i ever pay to tour a sub it has to be the newest model of course. Not some made in china cheapo model without the latest technology.

10 hours ago, chainarong said:

The consensus is that if China ever tried it on with Taiwan the OZ sub Collins class would be used to sit and watch in the straight between China and Taiwan because of what you've just mentioned,  the cost and also the U S nuke subs are to large for that scenario, they'd sit further out in deeper water. You are also talking about massive experience , inventiveness and infrastructure on a grand scale ,  that even Russia or China have trouble matching , China in particular are , in quite  a few critical area's twenty years behind the US, but catching up fast, nice talking to U BigBadGordie. 

Do the dud loud noise making old Collins class subs still need to be towed around by frigates before they ballast down 30 metres, fire those old torps at an old towed target, raise the sub and tow it back to harbour? Commodore Collins would be turning in his grave to know that these dud subs were named in his honour. The last I heard was that submariners were refusing to sail them and the loud signature noise they made could be heard another ocean away. The new subs purchased by Aust from France have not even been designed yet. The only efficient diesel electric current subs are built by Germany and Japan. Collins subs, you have to be joking. 

This could be a great acquisition if there is enough money left in the budget.

Is there another country producing Chinese tin cans? If so, the Chinese will probably sue them for breach of something.

Edited March 9, 20179 yr by Jonmarleesco

22 hours ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

So, I expect the above 380 million was quoted in dollars as it sounds so much cheaper than the 13.5 billion bahts quoted in the latest article and many casual readers  might not fully appreciate the difference.    That of course is only the purchase price, so does not include all the running costs, which in addition to the usual over-staffing, (who knows?) might even include an element of regular maintenance.

 

I cannot help wondering how much it costs to recover a mal-functioned or water-filled submarine off the sea floor somewhere in the Gulf of Thailand, assuming of course that it ever leaves base.  

 

'... does not include all the running costs, which in addition to the usual over-staffing ...' Which wouldn't be the same without at least one - preferably three - whistle-blowing security guards whose main job would, of course, be to help park the submarine.

On Wednesday, March 08, 2017 at 1:27 PM, JAG said:

Of course they need a submarine. They have had a submarine branch for donkeys years, along with admirals, a variety of other chaps splattered with gold braid and medals, and no doubt a full complement of matelots to tend to them. They have a simulator, a training school and a base - of course they need a submarine...

Otherwise all that investment, all that training, experience and medals would have been wasted.

 

I heard there was a Pattaya bar called something similar to The Submarine. Like the upcoming sub purchase the hosts went down often but just ended up causing what appeared to be an expensive explosion.