Royal Thai Navy goes ahead with plans to buy 2 submarines
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Royal Thai Navy says they are going ahead with plans to buy more submarines from China.
The Royal Thai Navy was undeterred by rampant outrage on social media over buying 2 submarines for 22.5 billion baht is an indulgence while the country is besieged by Covid. Others criticised the move by saying the submarines are unnecessary and not too useful in the shallow waters of the Thai Gulf. Also, the poll that showed one of the public’s biggest concerns was the purchase of submarines by the Royal Thai Navy.
The Navy persisted in the face of naysayers and submitted a proposal this week to the parliamentary budget committee in respect to the fiscal budget for the 2022 year. If approved, it would be the final approval needed to buy those sneaky watercrafts that can pop out of the water or dive under it.
The Royal Thai Navy spokesperson, Admiral Chettha Jaipiam, says buying these submarines is the “duty “of the Royal Thai Navy in order to protect the country.
Chettha says Covid has been a horrific situation for the country and that the RTN understand criticisms lobbed against the purchase on social media. But, these 2 submarines are part of a legal contractual deal and was put in place before Covid. Thus, breaking this contract would be pretty much impossible and could put Thailand in a “difficult situation”. The spokesperson says China has been very understanding and offered reductions in payments due to the “current situation”.
Despite the spokesperson’s assurances, social media reactions to the news have been overwhelmingly negative.
SOURCE: The Pattaya News
