Thailand' s cabinet has approved the first of three planned submarine purchases from China worth $393 million, a government spokesman said on Monday. Current top breaking Philippine headlines regarding the nation, world, metro manila, regions and exclusive special investigative reports.
BANGKOK – Thailand’s cabinet has approved the first of three planned submarine purchases from China worth $393 million, a government spokesman said on Monday. The plan to buy the three Chinese-built submarines worth 36 billion baht ($1.05 billion) was confirmed in July, signalling warming ties with the regional superpower since relations with the United States cooled after a May 2014 military coup. The first submarine purchase was approved last week. “The cabinet approved one submarine purchase on April 18, ” spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd told Reuters, adding that a budget of 13.5 billion baht ($393 million) has been earmarked for the Yuan Class S26T submarine over a six-year period. The media were not told about the purchase following a cabinet meeting last week because it was a matter of national security, he added.
