Thailand is postponing the controversial purchase of two Chinese submarines for several hundred million euros in the face of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus epidemic and has been scolding part of the youth in the streets for several weeks. Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha called on the Thai navy to " delay this purchase " and " negotiate with China for a delay " of one year, the spokesperson said on Monday. government word Anucha Burapachaisri.
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The kingdom, one of the first countries to acquire submarines built by Beijing, planned in 2015 to acquire three. The acquisition of the first was finalized in 2017 and its delivery is scheduled for 2023. The purchase of the other two, at a cost of 609 million euros, was approved in August by a parliamentary sub-committee, a decision which created an uproar in the country whose economy contracted by more than 12% in the second quarter in the face of the absence of tourists and the fall in exports.
The purchase of the submarines has aroused criticism for several years, with some questioning their strategic value for a country with shallow waters and which is not involved, unlike many of its neighbors, in the disputes at sea of Southern China. Their cost, considered exorbitant by some observers, had also raised questions.
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The abandonment of this contract is one of the demands of the students who have marched in the streets for several weeks to protest against the government and demand a reform of the powerful Thai monarchy. Faced with them, the pro-monarchies are getting organized. More than a thousand of them gathered at a stadium in Bangkok on Sunday to support King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
