By Thai Newsroom Reporters
ANXIETY AND DOUBT have prevailed among commanding admirals over the political factor in a long-delayed scheme for the navy to buy a Chinese-built S26T submarine with a Chinese-made engine, a navy source said over the weekend.
Those admirals apparently feared Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai, widely known as a right-hand man for de facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra, would only keep dragging his feet on the navy’s submarine project in addition to the bureaucratic red tape since China Shipbuilding & Offshore International, the submarine manufacturer, had persisted the Chinese CHD620 engine be installed aboard the Yuan-class S26T submarine in lieu of the German MTU396.
It is yet up to anyone’s guess as to exactly when the civilian defence minister may hold talks over the submarine procurement project with the military attaches of the Chinese and German embassies in Bangkok.
Whilst the newly-named navy chief Jirapon Wongwit has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors by pushing for the 12.4 billion baht submarine purchase plan, an estimated seven billion baht of which has already been made in down payment, the Pheu Thai-led government as yet has looked reserved and undecided, according to the navy source.
Former defence minister Sutin Khlangsang had earlier suggested in vain the navy forget about the troublesome submarine which would be Thailand’s first in six decades and go for a frigate instead.
Though the navy had repeatedly recommended and pushed for the procurement of the Chinese submarine, a copycat of the Soviet-made, Kilo-class submarine and the civilian defence minister had confirmed the submarine project will be finished within his current tenure in government, the political factor has already put those admirals on edge, the source said.
Nevertheless, the relevant politicians ranging from the de facto Pheu Thai boss/father of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to the defence minister and all other members of cabinet could practically take their time contemplating giving a final approval for the submarine project since the Chinese shipbuilder had arguably called for an extension of 1,217 days for the construction of the boat.
CAPTION:
Top: A Chinese ballistic missile submarine takes part in a military parade in the Yellow Sea in 2019. American officials confirmed that China’s newest state-of-the-art nuclear submarine sank in a dock at the Wuchang shipyard near Wuhan – the same city where the Covid-19 pandemic is believed to have originated – last May or June with this coming to light, thanks to satellite imagery, despite efforts by the country’s communist authorities to stage a cover-up, BBC said. Photo: Artyom Ivanov/TASS/Getty Images and published by CNN
Insert: Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai. Photo: Thai Rath
Front Page Chinese nuclear-powered submarines – not the state-of-the-art design involved in the Wuhan incident – are seen in the South China Sea in 2018. Photo: China Stringer Network/Reuters and published by BBC
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