Planes, tanks, subs: the Thai generals’ shopping list

BANGKOK: Defence spending in Thailand has surged over the last decade, during which the military has seized power twice.

The junta-picked National Legislative Assembly has proposed $7 billion for defence in the 2019 fiscal year -- a $1-billion increase since the 2014 coup. Big purchases -- many from China -- have drawn criticism in a country riddled with inequality, corruption and still beset by an insurgency in the deep south.

Here are some of Thailand’s military acquisitions and their eye-popping price tags: In 2017, Thailand approved the purchase of the first of three Yuan-class submarines from China at $393 million each.

The junta defended the move, called it a bargain for the Thai navy, and said it was needed to safeguard resources in the Andaman Sea. A submarine training centre sits outside Bangkok with a simulator but no actual subs.

The submarine plan stirred comparisons with the aircraft carrier Thailand bought from Spain in the 1990s -- now a white elephant that sits at port and has no planes.