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Airbus touts C295 maritime aircraft to Royal Thai Navy
Jon Grevatt - IHS Jane's Defence Weekly

05 July 2017


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Airbus is promoting its C295 maritime surveillance aircraft (seen here in Brazilian Air Force colours) to countries in the Asia-Pacific. (Airbus)

Key Points
  • Airbus sees opportunities to meet regional air-surveillance requirements
  • The company is exploring industrial partnerships to support its sales drive

Airbus is promoting its C295 maritime surveillance aircraft (MSA) to the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) in the first part of a regional tour in which the company aims to promote the platform's intelligence, reconnaissance, and surveillance (ISR) capabilities to Asian military operators.

The C295 MSA arrived in Thailand on 3 July, and is being displayed at the RTN's U-Tapao Air Base in Chonburi before similar promotional visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea – all countries with stated maritime patrol requirements. Subsequently, Airbus will promote the aircraft to North American operators.

"During its tour, the C295 will demonstrate its advanced ISR capabilities as well as the platform's versatility and suitability for potential operators, especially in the Asian region," Airbus said. The company is also promoting the aircraft to meet regional requirements to enhance surveillance, search and rescue, transport, medical evacuation, and humanitarian missions.

Airbus said the aircraft on display in Thailand is a model of the platform recently delivered to the Brazilian Air Force to meet its search and rescue and maritime patrol requirements.

Airbus said it sees opportunities to supply the aircraft to the RTN, which is expected in the coming years to replace its ageing fleets of Dornier 228 and Fokker F27 Friendship patrol craft, which were acquired from the 1980s onwards.

In addition, Airbus said it is seeking to expand sales of the C295 military transport aircraft to the Royal Thai Armed Forces. The Royal Thai Army (RTA) took delivery in June 2016 of a single C295W transport aircraft, although it is understood that the service requires three additional platforms.
 
Thailand to Buy T-50TH Aircraft with ELTA Radars
18 Juli 2017

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TA-50 Golden Eagle (photo : AirSourceMilitary)

Thailand will acquire eight KAI T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainers from South Korea. The aircraft will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s fleet of 40 Aero Vodochody L-39ZA/ART Albatros.

Thailand’s military government has approved the acquisition of eight KAI T-50 Golden Eagle lead-in fighter trainers from South Korea, adding to four aircraft it acquired in 2015.

The $258 million deal will be paid over a three-year period, according to Air Vice Marshal Pongsak Semachai.

Designated T-50TH, the aircraft will replace the Royal Thai Air Force’s fleet of 40 Aero Vodochody L-39ZA/ART Albatros in the training and combat roles. The first four aircraft expected to be delivered by March 2018.

According to specifications released by KAI, the T-50TH will be fully combat capable, being fitted with fire control radar – expected to be the ELTA EL/M-2032 – MIL-STD-1760 databus and will have provision for the Link 16 data link.

(Israel Defense)
 
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The Thai Royal Air Force (TRAF) is enhancing the readiness of its fleet via an upgrade package that will transform four F-5E Tigers into bonafide F-5T Super Tigers.

The warplanes will receive Python-4 and I Derby beyond-visual-range air-to-air weapons, new radar systems, electronic warfare capabilities and "network-centric capabilities for disaster preparedness," the Air Force said in an August 2 announcement.

Thai "F-5E fighter aircraft have been in service since 1978 and [are] considered a third-generation plane with limited capabilities," the service said. "With outdated technology, you cannot face current threats," the announcement noted.
 
Bank of Thailand holds key rate steady, eyes on strong baht
The Bank of Thailand on Wednesday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged again at 1.5%, showing it feels the level is low enough to aid an economic recovery hampered by high household debt levels.

As expected, the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to keep the one-day repurchase rate at 1.5%, where it has been since April 2015.

The MPC reiterated its long-held view that the current rate supports economic recovery, and that domestic liquidity is ample.

It said Thailand's growth outlook "improved further on the back of the expansion in merchandise and services exports.

Meanwhile, domestic demand continued to expand at a gradual pace, although it was not sufficiently broad-based."

Inflation has been very low, and that gives the BoT room to cut its key rate, but the central bank doubts a cut would aid growth and it could exacerbate problems with already-high levels of household debt.

BoT Assistant Governor Jaturong Jantarangs told reporters that there was no need to cut rates further, even though inflation might return to its 1-4% target range later than expected.

Many economists agree the central bank can keep policy unchanged.

"There is no pressing need for the BoT to adjust rates any time soon," said Shilan Shah of Capital Economics. "With the economy showing clear signs of recovery, monetary loosening seems unlikely."

All 21 economists polled by Reuters forecast no policy change on Wednesday, and most expect no change for the rest of this year.

While the central bank is counting on fiscal spending to aid economic growth, which still lags regional peers, public investment growth was softer than expected, the MPC said.

The strength of the baht, now at more than two-year highs against the US dollar, has been getting increasing attention.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business...and-holds-key-rate-steady-eyes-on-strong-baht
 
Thailand Approves $2.2 Billion in Help for Rice Farmers
Thailand's government on Friday announced $2.2 billion in loans and handouts to help stabilize prices for rice farmers, a politically influential group whose heartland is in regions where opposition to the military junta is strongest.


Thailand's staple food has long been a factor in its politics.

The announcement by the commerce ministry came a week after former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra fled into exile ahead of a court verdict in a criminal negligence case over a rice subsidy scheme that cost billions of dollars.

The ministry said it would provide $1.57 billion in handouts to farmers and $633 million in loans that will cover 3.7 million households. The program will span the seasonal harvest from the start of November this year to the end of February 2018.

"This is to help take 2 million tonnes of rice from the market," Nuntawan Sakuntanaga, head of the commerce ministry's department of internal trade, told reporters.

The government introduced similar short-term loans and cash handouts for rice farmers last year that cost the state $2.3 billion to cover 4 million households during the same period.

"This subsidy program is essentially similar to past rice subsidies introduced by previous governments," said Somporn Isvilanonda, a senior fellow at the Knowledge Network Institute of Thailand who is critical of subsidies.

"The bottom line is these cash handouts create more debt for farmers," Somporn said.

After hitting a four-year high earlier this year, the price of benchmark Thai 5-percent broken white rice has tumbled by nearly 20 percent over the last two months to $372.50 per tonne, its lowest since April.

Thailand's main rice-growing areas are the northeastern and central regions, which have traditionally been strongholds of support for the populist Shinawatra movement of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, who was overthrown in a 2006 coup.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...-approves-22-billion-in-help-for-rice-farmers

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/re...iland-approves-2-2-bln-help-rice-farmers.html
 
Pivot to, or Brawl in Asia? West Already Targeting Thailand's New King

November 3, 2017 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Not even a day had passed after the funeral rites for Thailand's revered and respected former head of state, King Bhumibol Adulyadej before the Western media began launching attacks on his heir and current Thai head of state, King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

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It is a development widely predicted - with the United States and its European partners long-eager to pursue regime change in Thailand as part of a wider strategy to either control or destabilize Southeast Asia as a means of hindering China's regional and global rise.

First Shots

The AFP in its article, "Protected by draconian law, King Rama X begins to make his mark," would cite rumors and half-truths in an attempt to depict Thailand's new head of state as a shadowy, unpopular, and despotic figure that remains "unpredictable."

The article claims that Thailand's "draconian law" prevents criticism of its highest institution, citing the arrest of a "student activist" for sharing a BBC article slandering the head of state.

What AFP and other articles consistently and intentionally fail to mention is that these "student activists" are US and European funded and directed agitators, enjoying direct support from the US, British, and EU diplomatic missions in Thailand. Embassy staff often accompany their agitators to police stations and appearing in public with their family members.

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Image: Canadian embassy staff publicly supporting the family of the above mentioned jailed "student activist"
Jatupat Boonpattararaksa, exposing such "activism" as little more than foreign-backed agitation and subversion.


In other words, those targeted by Thailand's "draconian law" are engaged in both treason and sedition and could easily be charged and sentenced for either - or both - and are instead granted lesser sentences, many of which are pardoned long before they are fully served.

Similar articles have been appearing in the BBC, CNN, AP, and other mainstays of Western propaganda before and after the passing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej last year and upon the succession of his son and heir.

The Reality of Thailand's Monarchy

Thailand's monarchy represents an entire institution and spans centuries with the current dynasty being nearly 300 years old. It has united and protected Thailand from foreign domination - leaving Thailand as the only nation in Southeast Asia to avoid colonization.

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Image: On all sides Thailand - then called Siam - was surrounded by colonized Southeast Asian states.
It remains the only Southeast Asian state to avoid Western colonization.


When French, British, and later American imperialism swept through Asia, finding and exploiting socioeconomic and cultural fault lines in each nation to divide and conquer them along, the unifying nature of Thailand's highest institution and its cunning geopolitical maneuvering left Thailand a bastion of stability and strength that remains to this day unconquered.

Over the centuries, the monarchy has reinvented itself. Thailand - then known as Siam - voluntarily abolished slavery in a period of time when in Western nations conflict and race wars were waged - the effects of which still reverberate in modern Western society. The Thai monarchy has also - for over 80 years - been a constitutional monarchy unlike the West's closest allies in the Middle East - several of which are some of the last absolute monarchies on Earth.

As is in the case of any nation targeted by Western destabilization - any attempt at all to rein in agitators and even outright terrorists is condemned by the West's network of faux-rights advocates and its media as "draconian." At a time when the United States bemoans alleged Russian interference in its own domestic political affairs, its meddling abroad in places like Thailand and its neighbors in Southeast Asia continues unabated.

Today, the unity and geopolitical maneuvering characteristic of earlier heads of state continues.

Thailand has incrementally shifted away from the United States and its influence in Asia Pacific toward its regional neighbors including China.

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At a time when the United States' Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) lies in ruins, major infrastructure projects have been inked between Bangkok and Beijing and are beginning construction including a network of high-speed railways that will interlink Thailand's major cities as well as link Thailand with its neighbors and with China.

Thailand is also systematically replacing its Vietnam War-era US-made arsenal with Chinese, Russian, and European equipment. It is replacing its main battle tanks with Chinese VT-4s, as well as its armored personnel carries with Chinese-made systems.

The acquisition of Chinese submarines, joint-development of multiple rocket launcher systems with China, and an increasing number of joint Thai-Chinese military exercises marks a dramatic shift away from the West, and focused more within Asia itself. It is a process that has been unfolding for years, carefully cultivated by Thailand's independent institutions at a time when its "elected leaders" backed by the West sought to bankrupt, divide, and derail the nation.

The transition from King Bhumibol Adulyadej to King Maha Vajiralongkorn will have no impact on this process. The Thai monarchy is above all, an institution that consists of not only the head of state, but a circle of highly skilled and experienced advisers whom King Maha Vajiralongkorn has retained from his father's council ensuring continuity for this well-thought out policy.

The only real change that has occurred is the perceived window of opportunity the West has to target and sow doubt in the minds of Thais and the world regarding Thailand's sensitive transition as a means to once again attempt to destabilize and divide the country.

In the Following Months

The United States and its European partners maintain an extensive network of foreign-funded fronts in Thailand posing as "nongovernmental organizations" (NGOs). They include media fronts and faux rights advocates like Prachatai, the Issan Record, Thai Netizens, iLaw, and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights - all funded by the US State Department via the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and US-based corporate foundations like convicted financial criminal George Soros' Open Society.

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The majority of their activity focuses not on actual rights advocacy, but on attacking and undermining Thailand's independent institutions - namely the military and monarchy - and both promoting the opposition as well as covering up the abuses, impropriety, violence, and the foreign-backed nature of the opposition.

There is the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) based in downtown Bangkok in which most Western media outlets house their offices and where they regularly hold joint events aimed at "making news" rather than reporting it. This includes providing Western-funded agitators with a platform and an international audience, as well as inviting Western diplomats to come and comment on Thailand's internal political affairs.

There is also US proxy Thaksin Shinawatra, his Pheu Thai Party (PTP), and his ultra-violent street front, the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) also known simply as the "red shirts." Shinawatra - ousted from power in 2006 and his sister ousted from power in 2014 - has been the recipient of US support since the 1990s. Since 2006 he has received lobbying services from some of the largest firms in Washington while his political network receives Western support and funding within Thailand.

Often, all three - foreign correspondents from outlets like AP, AFP, and the BBC, along with PTP and UDD leaders, and members from America's network of faux-NGOs can be seen meeting at the FCCT at the same time along with foreign diplomats from the US, British, and EU diplomatic missions in Thailand.

This interconnected network has and will continue over the next several months to mount pressure on the military-led government to rush through with elections the US hopes it can sufficiently manipulate to place a PTP-led government into power. From there, the continued division and destruction of Thailand will continue.

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What the West fears most is further delays in Thailand's next election, further eroding its proxy's political momentum which is already suffering greatly as its populist policies have been put on hold and as the current, military-led government addresses many of the socioeconomic plights PTP has exploited for well over a decade to acquire political dependence from the nation's populous northeast region.

And as Thailand's new head of state fulfills his role, the window will close on doubts - real or imagined among the Thai population - over "unpredictability." A diminished PTP together with a stable economy, military, and monarchy will close the window of opportunity further still for would-be regime changers in Washington, London, and Brussels.

With the facts in hand, articles pushed out by the Western media attempting to malign Thailand's leadership can be exposed and their effect on manipulating public perception diminished. Ensuring that such propaganda gains no traction is the best inoculation against the firestorm of violent regime change that has consumed other nations. While genuine activists and media members have helped expose and derail US plans in places like Syria, preventing conflict from erupting in the first place is better still.

Tony Cartalucci, Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”


http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2017/11/pivot-to-or-brawl-in-asia-west-already.html


Please spread over this article (or its link) through all other means, please let the general populace be aware of the old school text book tricks... the Dutch VOC's "Divide et Impera"; the British Empire EIC "Divide and Conquer"...

TONY CARTALUCCI is a very good journalist. I recall to read on his findings many years ago on the LOWY Institute, a globalist think tank [closely affiliated with the USA & ISR intel agencies; established by FRANK LOWY & MARTIN INDYK, who also founded the
ISR Institute for National Strategy and Policy], set up its base in AUSTRALIA to incur into the host country as well as the Southeast Asia... at his following article: "Globalists' Australian Nexus".

Not my usual practice to tag the many but this one is a rather exceptional :coffee:

@TaiShang @cirr @onebyone @Martian2 @lcloo @Daniel808 @Chinese-Dragon @ChineseTiger1986 @grey boy 2 @GS Zhou @sinait @yusheng @JSCh @Globenim @Star Expedition @Brainsucker @oprih @antonius123 @Han Warrior @AndrewJin @powastick @Makarena @Dungeness @+4vsgorillas-Apebane @cnleio @AViet @Götterdämmerung @Galactic Penguin SST @eldarlmari @rott @GeraltofRivia @Pangu

。。。
 
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