BANGKOK - The Royal Thai Navy is hoping that its quest to re-establish a submarine capability some 65 years after last operating an underwater vessel will gather momentum. According to reports Thailand's military junta government is looking to possibly procure 2-3 submarines funded via a larger 2016 defense budget.
The Royal Thai Navy has long hoped to resurrect the submarine capability surrendered in 1951, with the country examining deals with Germany and South Korea since the 1990s. The most recent instance came in April 2011, when the Navy announced its intention to purchase six second-hand Type 206A submarines from the German Navy's retired stocks. This idea, however, was shot down by Thailand's Defense Council, from whom any procurement proposal must receive approval before being placed before the governing cabinet. Instead more pressing military requirements have been favored over a costly project.
But now with a military-backed government running the show and increasing maritime pressures in the South China Sea threatening to spill into the Gulf of Thailand there is hope in Royal Thai Navy circles that their quest for a submarine purchase may finally be realized.
In anticipation the Navy officially launched its Submarine Squadron at Sattahip naval base in the Chon Buri province on July 7, 2014. It has also built a training center for the nascent submarine command team, which is equipped with a German-made submarine simulator that is also linked to an anti-submarine simulator used by the Navy's Fleet Training Command.
In terms of potential candidates to fill the Royal Thai Navy requirement include the South Korean Chang Bogo-class (based on the German Type-209 conventional model), the Chinese S-26T (the export version of the diesel electric Type 039-A Yuan-class), and Russia's Project 636 diesel electric Kilo-class submarine. The Chang Bogo is reportedly the least expensive alternative at $330 million apiece.
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