The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has cut t
he number of Chi
nese VT-4 bat
t
l
e t
anks i
t want
s t
o buy f
rom 98 t
o
60 due t
o i
nsuf
f
i
ci
ent f
unds, army chi
ef Chal
ermchai Si
t
t
i
sat sai
d Thursday. Gen Chal
ermchai sai
d t
he
60 new t
anks wi
l
l be di
vi
ded equal
l
y bet
ween t
he 2nd and 3rd Caval
ry Bat
t
al
i
ons i
n t
he nort
heast
ern
provi
nces of Udon Thani and Khon Kaen.
The new t
anks wi
l
l repl
ace US-made M-41 model
s whi
ch wi
l
l be decommi
ssi
oned af
t
er havi
ng been i
n
servi
ce f
or more t
han 40 years, he sai
d.
Of t
he 60 VT-4 t
anks, 28 wort
h f
our bi
l
l
i
on baht were purchased by t
he army l
ast year
. The t
anks are
expect
ed t
o be del
i
vered l
at
e t
hi
s year
.
The army al
so recent
l
y proposed t
he purchase of 20 addi
t
i
onal t
anks t
o t
he cabi
net but onl
y 10, wort
h
t
wo bi
l
l
i
on baht
, were approved. A request t
o purchase 10 more t
anks wi
l
l be f
orwarded t
o t
he cabi
net
f
or approval soon.
As f
or t
he remai
ni
ng 12 t
anks, t
he procurement wi
l
l be earmarked f
or t
he next f
i
scal year
. Last year
,
t
he RTA al
so cancel
l
ed t
he procurement of 39 T-84 Opl
ot t
anks ordered f
rom Ukrai
ne af
t
er onl
y 10 of
of 49 were del
i
vered t
o Thai
l
and.
The Def
ence Mi
ni
st
ry sai
d l
ast year t
hat Ukrai
ne had been unabl
e t
o f
ul
f
i
l
l orders made by several
count
ri
es, i
ncl
udi
ng Thai
l
and, f
or mi
l
i
t
ary hardware because of i
nt
ernal securi
t
y probl
ems. The 10
Opl
ot t
anks are current
l
y st
at
i
oned at an army base i
n Prachi
n Buri provi
nce. Fol
l
owi
ng t
he probl
ems
wi
t
h t
he Opl
ot t
ank order
, t
he army commi
t
t
ee responsi
bl
e f
or mi
l
i
t
ary hardware procurement has opt
ed
t
o cut t
he number of t
anks t
o be purchased f
rom Ukrai
ne and buy more f
rom Chi
na si
nce Chi
nese
t
anks are cheaper
.
Gen Chal
ermchai sai
d procuri
ng t
anks f
rom Chi
na had not
hi
ng t
o do wi
t
h i
nt
ernat
i
onal pol
i
t
i
cs but was
based on cost
. He sai
d Deput
y Pri
me Mi
ni
st
er and Def
ence Mi
ni
st
er Gen Prawi
t Wongsuwon want
s t
o
work wi
t
h Chi
na i
n devel
opi
ng a def
ence and weapons i
ndust
ry i
n Thai
l
and, st
art
i
ng wi
t
h basi
c
t
echnol
ogy.