China agrees to supply ship instead of sub to navy

The Chinese government has agreed in principle to supply either two patrol vessels or a frigate to the Thai navy instead of a submarine, according to a navy source.

The source said on Thursday that the agreement was made during the recent visit of Defence Minister Sutin Klungsang to China. His delegation included navy commander-in-chief Adm Adung Phan-iam and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jakkapong Sangmanee. The trip concluded on Wednesday.

According to the source, China has accepted Thailand’s proposal to purchase either two offshore patrol vessels or one frigate, as opposed to a submarine. The payment for this arrangement will be made using the navy’s instalments for the submarine over the past six years, totalling 8 billion baht. However, detailed arrangements for this change are yet to be finalised by the concerned officials.

The order change has raised concerns for China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co (CSOC), which was contracted to construct the submarine under a government-to-government (G-to-G) agreement. The submarine was reported to be 50% completed.

After Mr Sutin, representing the coalition-core Pheu Thai Party, became the defence minister in September last year, he announced the following month to shelve the navy’s submarine purchase plan with China and pushed for procuring a frigate from China instead. This decision stemmed from China’s inability to install a German engine in the ordered submarine.

The original agreement, signed in 2017 for the S26T Yuan-class submarine, stipulated a German-made diesel engine. However, Germany forbids the use of such engines in Chinese military and defence hardware. Consequently, Beijing proposed a Chinese-made engine as an alternative.