A plan floated by the new civilian government to swap the procurement of a Chinese-made submarine with a frigate is hanging in the balance as the Defense Ministry has failed to get the Royal Thai Navy and Parliament on board.
Defense Minister Suthin Klangsaeng had said late in October that the navy had already decided to switch its order for a Yuan Class S26T submarine to a Chinese-made frigate. The move was supposedly aimed at tiding over the stalemate caused by the manufacturer, China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co. Ltd. (CSOC), failing to secure the German MTU 396 engine for the submarine as stipulated in the agreement.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin discussed the matter with China’s President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang when he was in Beijing from October 16-19 for the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. The new deal, which would cost Thailand an…
