'Purchase of armoured personnel carriers in national interest'
By The Nation

 

Defence Ministry spokesman Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich

 

BANGKOK: -- The Defence Ministry on Wednesday maintained that the purchase of 34 Chinese armoured personnel carriers at a cost of Bt2.3 billion was necessary in the interests of national security as well as to protect national sovereignty.

 

The procurement was approved at the weekly Cabinet meeting of the junta-backed government on Tuesday despite concerns the country’s economy was stagnant.

 

Maj-General Kongcheep Tantravanich said the purchase was part of the plan to provide armoured personnel carriers in the second phase between this year and 2020. The reserve budget had already been included in the Army’s reinforcement plan, he explained.

 

Kongcheep said the 34 Chinese VN-1 would replace the V-150 model and the M113 armoured personnel carriers, which had been in service for nearly four and five decades respectively.

 

The Defence Ministry spokesman said the procurement should not be seen as a wasteful expenditure. The equipment is needed by the Army to protect national sovereignty and national interest, he said.

 

“We insist that this is a necessity. The current model is more than 50 years old and out of service,” Kongcheep said.

 

The purchase was in accordance with the National Economic and Social Development plan, he added. It considered well the budget, the appropriateness of the purchase and the state of the economy, the spokesman insisted.

 

The purchase had the support of Army experts, he said, adding, the decision to buy from China was because of military cooperation between the two sides, which included China helping build a maintenance depot, making it cost effective.

 

Kongcheep said that future purchases would be made on the principle that the suppliers build a maintenance depot or an assembly plant in Thailand.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30318078

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-06-15

They are used to protect the voters in the "next" election. 

They can also use them in raids and crackdowns in soapies and massage shops......

3 minutes ago, NickJ said:

They can also use them in raids and crackdowns in soapies and massage shops......

... and anti-social bridge players. 

The latest fad ??
Last month was submarines !!

Next month ??
Starship Enterprise ??

and water cannon trucks .  what's next soylent green people scoopers?

Money,money,money!

1 hour ago, Somtamnication said:

They are used to protect the voters in the "next" election. 

u  lost me when u said "election"???????????????????????? wsssat??

Why do I somehow see these being used to repress Thais asking for democracy?

1 minute ago, darksidedog said:

Why do I somehow see these being used to repress Thais asking for democracy?

"democracy" sorry  lost again??

The only interest is, the military government spending as much as they can on toys before they loose power.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The purchase had the support of Army experts,

<deleted>  comical!!

The only enemy of the Thai people is the purchasers. They will use them against Thais after they have lined their corrupt pockets from the commissions due. Disgusting.

36 minutes ago, kannot said:

u  lost me when u said "election"???????????????????????? wsssat??

I think the poster actually meant "erection" (but excuse the Thai pron) Lol.

They can say any excuse for these stupid purchases, including the subs. No body can oppose nor stop them. The essence of a military government. Tax dollars at work with zero return to the country its citizens. Pure b's waste of public money. Sad.

If the equipment these new APCs will replace is some 40-50 years old, then they've done better than the schoolchildrens' tablet-computers "just like mine", in which the previous administration 'invested'.

 

But all major investment should be carefully weighed & considered, before decisions are made, as some bad ones (like the new submarine) are still slipping through !

I am feeling safer by the day, first submarines, now APC's........just add some more tanks and the future is sealed.

Does this not resemble a certain "last king of scotland" type reign? Will they get gold plated ak47s next? It's like kids in a candy store

No need to buy when the demonstrations  start,

bring the submarine  out of the water lay her on 

a few bogies , and then you will have a very large 

armoured personnel carrier , its all about recycling these

days, 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

replace the V-150 model and the M113 armoured personnel carriers, which had been in service for nearly four and five decades respectively

 

Wow, that's a lot of coups.

at this rate of growth imagine the military budget in 20 years

Arms deals for favours has been going on in the world for a long time.

The big question is what has China and Thailand secretly agreed???

 

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Kongcheep said the 34 Chinese VN-1 would replace the V-150 model and the M113 armoured personnel carriers, which had been in service for nearly four and five decades respectively.

I thought the army used Toyota pickups for troop transport, every time an IED explodes in the south a Toyota is upside down.

Suppression of the populace is of course in the national interest. 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

armoured personnel carriers at a cost of Bt2.3 billion was necessary in the interests of national security as well as to protect national sovereignty.

wow; hopefully there are not many people stupid enough to believe this

 

'Purchase of armoured personnel carriers in national interest'

 

And collection of 30% "commission" in personal interest...

The army certainly needs to deploy them in Southern Thailand to prevent soldiers from being killed by those muslim terrorist.

I guess that's why they want a maintenance facility in Thailand, they already know they will be breaking down frequently. Money poorly spent, they always buy the cheapest stuff available. They never look at the total cost of ownership.

 

They should have bought the US General Dynamics Land Systems Stryker instead, see below

There is a  old Thai woman  outside  my residence every morning when I leave.

She sells  coffee to passers by.

She makes a few baht every day.

Can you explain to me so I can tell her how 18 billion Baht spent on Armored vehicles from China help her?

6 minutes ago, IMA_FARANG said:

There is a  old Thai woman  outside  my residence every morning when I leave.

She sells  coffee to passers by.

She makes a few baht every day.

Can you explain to me so I can tell her how 18 billion Baht spent on Armored vehicles from China help her?

Tell her the soldiers in the south, now won't get killed. They are fighting the terrorists, preventing them from coming to kill her and her family, or converting her into a muslim.

 

 Also tell her to declare her income, so she can pay income tax, to buy more bullets. Also ask her to pay the 7% VAT to government for all her sales.