House committee postpones meeting on subs purchase… again

A Parliamentary committee meeting on the Royal Thai Navy’s controversial purchase of 2 Chinese submarines has been postponed for a third time, until Monday. The Democratic party vehemently opposes the purchase, saying the 22.5 billion baht would be better spent on Covid-19 relief efforts and aiding the recovery of the nation’s battered economy.

Democrat MP Akkharadet Wongphithakrot, acting as spokesman of the House committee scrutinising the budget bill for fiscal 2021, told reporters that a subcommittee on durable product items, state enterprises, ICT equipment and revolving funds has been asked to meet with the committee to submit the results of its consideration of the purchase.

But the meeting was postponed to August 31 since there are “many time-consuming budget considerations for other projects during this period.”

According to Akkharadet, if the committee wants more information about the submarine procurement, representatives of the navy will be invited to clarify the matter.

The meeting has already been posponed twice, on Wednesday and yesterday.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post