2 replies to this topic

[Sexpat]

"Defence Minister Boonrawd Somthas yesterday suspended the controversial arms deal between Thailand and Ukraine, ordering a halt to the purchase of 96 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for Bt4 billion.
Boonrawd said questions still lingered over the deal and he would not proceed until all parties were convinced the procurement was in the armed forces' best interest.

"At this juncture, we are one step away from signing the deal. I am the person who will sign off on it. But because [political] problems have risen, I must suspend it until we get clarification," Boonrawd said.

Members of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) questioned the procurement deal with Boonrawd during Wednesday's debate, asking whether the Ukrainian APCs were adequate for the country's security needs. A leading security expert, Chulalongkorn University's Associate Professor Panitan Wattanayagorn, said the military had employed the same old logic in this particular purchase.

He said some of the 96 APCs would be set aside for spare parts as part of a strategy to cut costs. "They wanted goods that are high in quantity but cheap in price. We should be moving towards more quality APCs even though the cost may be higher and the number may be less," Panitan said.

The thickness of the armour of this particular model, the BTR-3E, could not sustain a hit from a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG), the defence expert pointed out."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/10/13...es_30052337.php

[Hedda]

I am no trained military analyst but I wonder what military mission Thailand has that requires 96 Ukranian Armored Personnel carriers - with Cyrillic alphabet manuals and instructions, no doubt. It reminds me of a budget flight I took in India once, in an old Russian jet that had all the passenger emergency instructions still in Russian.

As far as I can tell, APC's have never been used in the Thai Southern insurgency, for obvious reasons, and one has to assume that the coup leaders have no foreseeable plans to invade Burma or Mayaysia. I read somewhere that they'll be stored near the Cambodian border, perhaps so that fewer people will see how fast they rust in the jungle.

I guess the real answer to why on earth someone wants to buy 4 Billion Baht's worth of used APC's is that putting generals in charge of the country has its obvious downside when they go shopping for toys using the national credit card.

[Gene]

"The Office of the Auditor-General submitted observations to the Defence Ministry about irregularities over the purchase of 96 armoured personnel carriers (APCs) for Bt4 billion from Ukraine, a source said yesterday.

The letter said Ukraine company NGV did not submit the bidding within the deadline but won the deal. "The fact that NGV did not forward the bidding within the deadline shows that it did not comply with the conditions and shows that the company was given favour over other companies since it would learn about the specifications of other bidders and it finally won the Army's bidding,'' the letter said.

The report was released to the media after Defence Minister Boonrawd Somtas on Saturday suspended the controversial arms deal between Thailand and Ukraine.

The office's letter said Ukraine BTR-3EI APCs were not of suitable quality because they were not newly produced or of a new design but were modified from rubber-wheeled Russian BTR-70 APCs, sales of which have been suspended. The rubber wheels cannot withstand a hit from 7.62 millimetre-size bullets. . .

"Even though these qualities were not indicated in the bidding, to use these APCs in the South is not practical."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/10/15...es_30052448.php