News Forum - Army to cut spending on foreign weapons, buy domestic instead

[Thaiger]

The army is recognizing that, with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, they shouldn’t be spending massive money to obtain weapons from abroad. Instead, they will look for domestic sourcing for the weapons they purchase and spend on maintaining what they have already. The chief of staff for the army acknowledged that it is reconsidering its spending since much of the budget this year went to efforts to contain Covid-19 spread. For the coming fiscal year, the army budget decreased 8 billion baht to 97.8 billion, falling short of the 112 billion that had been requested for funding. New plans for […]

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[Griff1315]

What could possibly go wrong.

[Changnam43]

Shock horror.  Thai army discovers that maintenance is a thing.

Not so sure about the 'buy local' part of the plan.  In the past that has proven to be a recipe for huge corruption and useless equipment.

[Rain]

Quite mute.

As some of us understand the only reason for the Thai military existence. 

[KaptainRob]

1 minute ago, Changnam43 said:

Not so sure about the 'buy local' part of the plan.  In the past that has proven to be a recipe for huge corruption and useless equipment.

At least the money would stay in Thailand 555

Thairung Co would have to be frontrunners for armoured car production but armaments, submarines and fighter jets could be a worry 

Still, it's the thought that counts.

[MrStretch]

Local sources for weapons?

Who?  That Somchai in Chiang Rai who sold homemade rifles off of FB?

What company could manufacture any arms or weapons in Thailand that wouldn't require trillions of baht in investment money from the government?

Foolish idea.

But, that's Prayut's government.  It's a badge of honor for them...to have another foolish idea.

[Changnam43]

I guess the maintenance thing probably means that money will be disbursed in that category rather than maintenance will actually be done.

[NCC1701A]

I got some GT-200 bomb detectors they can buy from me. Maybe put a made in Hua Hin label on them. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GT200#Thailand

[MrStretch]

Oh, now I get it.

Because Prayut has sold out Thailand to the Chinese, we'll get weapons from them, because that would be domestic weapon production.

Xie xie, Khun Prayut. 

[AdvocatusDiaboli]

55 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

The army is recognizing that, with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, they shouldn’t be spending massive money to obtain weapons from abroad.

The Navy will be turning a deaf ear to that! They want their yellow submarines!

[Malc-Thai]

Wow submarines and tanks made out of old chang cans

[Jason]

Now that the navy has decided not to buy more submarines there should be ample budget surplus to keep army equipment serviced. 

[longwood50]

New Thailand Armored Personnel Carrier 

Edited October 3, 2021 by longwood50

[Rookiescot]

Thing is army procurement is always literally a minefield of corruption and stupidity.

Take for example the Thai army's Humvees. Ludicrously expensive, require complex maintenance and their running costs are huge.

Could have bought a load of Land Rovers for half the cost. Far more practical. 

[Stonker]

24 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Could have bought a load of Land Rovers for half the cost. Far more practical. 

Or, better still, Toyotas

[Rookiescot]

10 minutes ago, Stonker said:

Or, better still, Toyotas

Well it does seem to be the vehicle of choice for many terrorist/extremist groups around the world so yeah you might be onto something there .

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, Thaiger said:

The army will also attempt to lure more civilians into volunteer service in place of military personnel

Not quite what Google re-write should have said, which was to replace conscripts with volunteers and to civilianise some military posts, both of which make a great deal of sense.

[Stonker]

Just now, Rookiescot said:

Well it does seem to be the vehicle of choice for many terrorist/extremist groups around the world so yeah you might be onto something there .

... and many armies that used to have Land Rovers, Humvees, Jeeps and Steyrs and realised that complex and expensive wasn't always better than simple and cheap.

[HolyCowCm]

So maybe Carabao needs to make a revised new song called- Assembled in Thailand. 

[HolyCowCm]

It does make one think if the well has been siphoned near dry and the smoke screen is to say they are using sincere discretion protecting the people’s money. 

[Bob20]

Just now, HolyCowCm said:

It does make one think if the well has been siphoned near dry and the smoke screen is to say they are using sincere discretion protecting the people’s money. 

Don't give them ideas, they may replenish the well with Sinovac (oh, no, I said it again )

[HolyCowCm]

14 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Don't give them ideas, they may replenish the well with Sinovac (oh, no, I said it again )

Maybe they can recycle the empty or expired Sinovac containers and turn them into bullet proof glass for reconditioning army vehicles. You would think they are on track to have an arsenal of used bottles coming up. 

[Bob20]

3 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

Maybe they can recycle the empty or expired Sinovac containers and turn them into bullet proof glass for reconditioning army vehicles. You would think they are on track to have an arsenal of used bottles coming up. 

No they have cans for that

[EdwardV]

Can’t think of this as anything but a PR stunt. I guess you could put off major purchases for a couple of years to give the appearance of legitimacy. Or Thailand can invest billions and decades to create a indigenous military industrial complex. 

[Cathat]

The thai military designed and built military aircraft in the distant past and they could fly.(although not very well but not bad for a first attempt.)

Not quite beyond the realms of possibility from a technical point of view.