Seoul Sees More Weapons Sales to Thailand

South Korea is looking to sell more weapons systems, including warships and aircraft, to Thailand, which is pushing to modernize its armed forces to meet security challenges.

Following a contract with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for a 3,700-ton frigate, the Royal Thai Navy plans to procure one more frigate built by the South Korean shipyard, according to officials. The contract for the first frigate was signed in August. The deal was valued around $470 million, the highest weapons import for a single item in Thailand.

“The delivery of the first frigate, DW 3000F, will take place in 2017, and we expect a following order for the second ship in the coming years,” said Kim Deog-soo, director of the naval & special ship marketing team at DSME. DSME was one of the South Korean defense contractors that participated in the Defense & Security 2013 from Monday through Thursday at the IMPACT Exhibition Center here.

The frigate for the Thai Navy is based on the design of the Korean Navy’s 4,000-ton KDX-1. The ship is equipped with up-to-da

te weapons systems from major defense contractors worldwide.

Among the key armament are Swedish Saab’s 9LV Mk4 combat management system; the Mk 41 vertical launch system from US Lockheed Martin; evolved Sea Sparrow missiles of Raytheon; the Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon missiles; Turkish Oto Melera 76mm super rapid gun; and two UK MSI-Defence Seahawk 30mm cannons.

The Thai Navy also is considering buying a submarine, in an apparent move to respond to the rapid naval modernization of its neighbors, including Indonesia and Malaysia, both of which bought South Korean submarines and training ships, respectively.

“The latest contract with DSME is a big step forward toward upgrading the Thai Navy,” a high-ranking officer of the Thai Navy’s procurement bureau said Monday during a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Adm. Shin Jung-ho of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration’s ship project bureau. “We have yet to lay out a submarine project in detail due to budget issues, but the thing is that we need a submarine and the government will make a decision on that in the near future.”

“South Korea sells not just a ship, but a package of logistics support and training programs,” Shin replied. “The South Korean Navy will make utmost efforts to help the Thai Navy deploy its frigate successfully.”

South Korea’s representative at the Thai defense fair stressed the arms exports to Thailand will further boost the country’s weapons sales in the Southeast Asian region.

“On the basis of improved relations between the two governments, the Thai military is expected to acquire more weapons built by our nation,” said Lee Yong-dae, director of the South Korean Defense Ministry’s procurement bureau. “In particular, our export strategy of selling a package of weapons and relevant technology meets the requirements of the Thai armed forces’ modernization schemes.

Lee revealed that the Royal Thai Air Force has shown interest in purchasing an attack variant of the T-50 supersonic trainer aircraft built by Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Lockheed Martin.

“The Thai air force requested KAI for information about the T-50 jet,” said the retired two-star army general, adding Thailand is interested in buying 16 T-50 variants, including the TA-50 armed trainer and FA-50 light attacker.

The Royal Thai Army eyes a truck-mounted howitzer built by Samsung Techwin, according to Lee, in an effort to modernize its artillery force.

The vehicle, dubbed EVO-105, consists of a standard South Korean KM500 five-ton truck chassis with the rear cargo area modified to accept the upper part of the US 105MM M101 towed howitzer.

“The vehicle features the fire control system used in the K9 howitzer’s 155mm/52-caliber gun,” a Techwin spokesman said. “It’s cheaper and faster than the standard K9, which is attractive to Southeast Asian nations.”

About 800 EVO-105 vehicles are to be deployed with South Korea’s Army in 2017, he noted.

Thai planes raise Cambodia tension ahead of Preah Vihear ruling

The chief of Cambodia's military forces on the Thailand border has called an emergency meeting after Thai aircraft were seen flying low around disputed land near the Preah Vihear temple.

A helicopter and small spotter plane were seen early on Saturday.

Tension on the border is high ahead of a verdict due on Monday by the UN's highest court on where the border lies around the ancient temple.

Fighting in the area in 2011 left 18 people dead and thousands displaced.

The BBC's Jonathan Head in Bangkok says Cambodian troops have dug trenches and bunkers near the temple and similar fortifications are visible on the Thai side.

However, Cambodian regional commander General Srey Deuk told the BBC on Saturday he expected no problems with the Thai military after Monday's verdict.

He said no troop reinforcements had been brought up to the temple.

A 1962 verdict by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared the temple to be Cambodian but did not rule on the area around it.

Cambodia sought a clarification of the ruling in 2011 after fighting broke out.

Both countries have agreed to abide by the ICJ ruling but fears remain that nationalist groups may stir up violence in border villages.

Thai nationalist group the Thai Patriotic Network has already said it will reject any judgement from the ICJ, The Nation newspaper reported.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered troops along the border to stay calm.

"I'd like to appeal to all armed forces who are on duty to defend the border to keep calm, exercise utmost restraint and avoid any activities that could lead to tension or clashes," he said in a televised broadcast on Thursday.

He said he and Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra had agreed that their two countries "have to comply with this decision and try to maintain peace and stability along the border at any cost".

UN calls for Thai-Cambodia ceasefire

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has called on Cambodia and Thailand to halt fighting along their disputed jungle border as troops exchanged fire for a third day.

At least 10 soldiers have been killed and thousands of civilians forced to flee the area since fighting broke out on Friday, shattering a tense two-month ceasefire.

Suos Sothea, a Cambodian field commander, said the fighting on Sunday started at about 10:00am local time (0300 GMT) and both sides were firing mortars.

"What we can confirm is it involves artillery shell fire," he said.

A Thai official at the border also confirmed the resumption of hostilities and said "Cambodia opened fire first".

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, called on the neighbours to "exercise maximum restraint" and urged them to resolve the issue through "serious dialogue" rather than military means, according to a spokesperson on Saturday.

He urged the two neighbours to take immediate measures for an effective and verifiable ceasefire.

Six Cambodian troops and four Thai soldiers have been killed since clashes restarted on Friday.

Thai villagers sheltering in makeshift tents in Prasat district, Surin province, told how they raced from their homes in fear when clashes began in the neighbouring border district of Phanom Dong Rak on Friday.

"When a shell fell next to my house, I knew I had to run away," Somjai Lengtamdee, from Baan Khaotoh village, said.

"I was so worried about my three children. We were separated and it took me all day to locate them all. I can only hope that the war ends soon. I'm so scared," the 37-year-old told the AFP news agency.

Somdee Suebnisai, a local official for Phanom Dong Rak said there were 16 camps in the area providing refuge to more than 18,000 people and the number was expected to rise to 20,000 by Sunday evening.

On the Cambodian side, the National Committee for Disaster Management told AFP that 12,000 people had been evacuated.

Cambodian villager Neb Oeuth and her six children were among those seeking shelter in a pagoda in Samrong, some 40km east of the unrest.

"Many bombs landed nearby my village and we were afraid. I have no idea when we will be able to return," she said.

Heavy shelling was clearly audible 20km away from the scene of the fighting on the Cambodian side, according to a photographer for the AFP news agency, as those evacuated from their homes took refuge in schools and temples away from the clash.

Both countries have accused each other of sparking the violence, which is the first serious outbreak of fighting since February, when 10 people were killed in clashes near the 900-year-old Hindu temple Preah Vihear.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay reported from Bangkok that it is extremely difficult to determine who fired first.

"Both sides traditionally blame each other for starting the fighting when it erupts on the disputed border," he said.

The latest clashes, which saw several hours of fighting on both Friday and Saturday, have taken place near a different group of temples more than 100km away from Preah Vihear.

Thailand has denied claims by its neighbour that it used "heavy guns loaded with poisonous gas" and flew aircraft "deep into Cambodia's airspace".

The country recently admitted using controversial Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions during the February fighting but insisted it did not classify them as cluster munitions.

"When there is firing into Thailand, we need to fire back to protect over sovereignty," Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Sunday in his weekly television programme.

He said Thailand was willing to hold bilateral talks and accused Cambodia of trying to "internationalise" the conflict.

Phnom Penh has asked for outside mediation to help end the standoff, but Thailand opposes third-party intervention.

The two countries agreed in late February to allow Indonesian observers in the area near Preah Vihear, but the Thai military has since said they are not welcome and they have yet to be deployed.

Members of the UN Security Council called for a lasting ceasefire after the last outbreak of violence.

Indonesia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, has called for an immediate end to the violence. Vietnam urged "maximum restraint".

Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear -- the most celebrated example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's Angkor -- was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6 square km surrounding area.

Temples damaged in Thai-Cambodia clashes

The death toll from three days of heavy fighting between Thai and Cambodian troops over a disputed border area has climbed to 12.

Officials on Monday said one soldier had been killed on each side following an exchange of fire in the jungle frontier late on Sunday.

Cambodia also accused Thailand of damaging two ancient temples during the latest clashes, while Thailand accused the Cambodian army of firing artillery shells that did not make it across the border.

Fighting appeared to have resumed on Monday afternoon with several shells fired, following a brief lull in the violence after days of cross-border shelling.

Thailand's foreign minister called for one-on-one talks with Cambodia, a renewed push that came after the cancellation of talks with a top regional envoy.

Indonesian foreign minister Marty Natalegawa had been scheduled to hold talks in Thailand and Cambodia on Monday but his trip was cancelled, government officials from both countries said.

Natalegawa had brokered a UN-backed peace deal in February that would have posted unarmed military observers from Indonesia along the border, but the Thai military has said they are not welcome and the deal has yet to be put in place.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, a Thai government spokesman, said Natalegawa's visit was cancelled because Thailand and Cambodia had not yet settled on terms for the Indonesian observers.

Cambodia has asked for outside mediation to help end the standoff, but Thailand has resisted third-party intervention. However, Kasit Piromya, the Thai foreign minister, declined on Monday to rule them out when

speaking to reporters at an evacuation camp.

"It's not something we are opposed to. This is a sensitive issue," he said in a briefing about 30km from the scene of recent fighting.

Ceasefire shattered

Both countries have blamed each other for sparking the violence, which is the first serious outbreak of fighting since February, when 10 people were killed in clashes near the 900-year-old Hindu temple Preah Vihear.

Seven Cambodian and five Thai troops have been killed and thousands of civilians have fled the area since the latest clashes began on Friday.

About 20,000 civilians have sought refuge in 16 camps on the Thai side of the border while about 17,000 have been evacuated from Cambodian villages.

Some, like 47-year-old Suwech Yodsri, stayed behind to guard their properties, despite the danger of violence.

"I'm scared to be here but I have to be here to protect our village from looting," he told the AFP news agency from the Thai village of Nong Kanna in Surin Province, about five kilometres from the border.

"I believe political conflicts are to blame. Innocent people are just being used as a political tool," he added.

Calls for restraint

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, has called on the neighbours to "exercise maximum restraint" and has urged them to resolve the issue through "serious dialogue" rather than military means.

He also urged the two neighbours to take immediate measures for an effective and verifiable ceasefire.

Indonesia, which holds the rotating chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc, has called for an immediate end to the violence. Vietnam urged "maximum restraint".

Ties between the neighbours have been strained since Preah Vihear -- the most celebrated example of ancient Khmer architecture outside Cambodia's Angkor -- was granted UN World Heritage status in July 2008.

The International Court of Justice ruled in 1962 that the temple belonged to Cambodia, but both countries claim ownership of a 4.6 square km surrounding area.

UN court hears Thai-Cambodia dispute

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague has begun a week of hearings on a territorial dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over land around 11th-century temple Preah Vihear temple which both sides claim. Cambodia has asked the United Nations' highest court to clarify a 50-year-old ruling on ownership of the 1,000-year-old temple near its border with Thailand, warning that maintaining the status quo would be a threat to peace between the Southeast Asian neighbours. The ICJ ruled in 1962 that the Preah Vihear temple stands in Cambodia, but Thailand, which calls it Khao Phra Viharn, says it did not draw definitive boundaries around the World Heritage-listed site, and the Southeast Asian neighbours' armies have repeatedly clashed there in recent years. In 2011, the court in The Hague created a demilitarised zone around the temple after fighting left about 20 dead and displaced thousands of people from near the temple, but Hor Namhong, Cambodian foreign minister, said talks about withdrawing troops have gone nowhere. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) put the temple, perched on a rocky plateau overlooking Thailand and Cambodia, on its World Heritage list in 2008. UNESCO called the temple "an outstanding masterpiece of Khmer architecture, in terms of plan, decoration and relationship to the spectacular landscape environment". 'Darkened relations' Four hearings are due to take place this week. Judges will hear the Thai side on Wednesday.On Monday, Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said that the dispute had "darkened relations" between the two countries. Without an interpretation of a 1962 ICJ ruling, "relations with Thailand cannot be friendly and co-operative in the future," Hor Namhong said. Ahead of Cambodia's opening statement on Monday, Hor Namhong told reporters his country "felt threatened" by troop incursions from Thailand. "We expect the court to interpret the 1962 ruling which said that the temple of Preah Vihear is on Cambodian soil," he said, speaking in French. "According to the ruling the surrounding area also belongs to Cambodia," Hor Namhong said. Thailand, which will make its case on Wednesday, said that it would "fight the case transparently and with [its] best effort". Al Jazeera's Veronica Pedrosa, reporting at the border of Thailand and Cambodia said security was tight at the disputed area. "Authorities are concerned that politicians are going to use the dispute to try to out-do each other’s nationalist fervour, while the World Court holds hearings in Europe this week," Pedrosa said. Deadly fighting erupted in the area in 2011, killing 18 people as Thai and Cambodian soldiers fought with rockets, guns and tanks.

Thai peace talks in Malaysia face uphill task

The first round of dialogue to bring peace to the troubled Muslim provinces of southern Thailand will get under way in Malaysia's capital on Thursday. But analysts warn it will be many years before the negotiations resolve a conflict in which at least 5,500 people have died over the past decade. Officials from the Thai government and military will meet representatives from the separatist group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), for talks brokered last month by the Malaysian government. The parties have agreed to the appointment of Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim, a former official with Malaysia’s Islamic Dawah Foundation, which works to develop Islamic understanding, to co-ordinate the talks. More than 1,000km from Bangkok, Thailand’s three southernmost provinces - Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala - have long chafed under Thai rule. The mainly Muslim, Malay-speaking region was an independent sultanate until it was annexed by what was then Siam in 1902. The local population was ordered to speak Thai and adopt Thai names. But many in the region continued their traditions, at least in secret, and simmering discontent fed a series of uprisings beginning in the 1940s.  Thailand and rebels agree to peace talks   Concessions from Bangkok, including development funds and greater political representation, helped cool the discontent until 2004, when armed fighters raided an army camp, killing four soldiers and stealing a cache of weapons. In October of that year, the deaths of scores of protesters at a mosque in Tak Bai, who suffocated after being arrested and thrown in the back of a military truck, fuelled anger and led to an escalation of violence. Conflict resolution specialists say that given the sensitivities of the region’s history, negotiators will need to work hard to establish a workable framework for discussions. “They need to make sure the foundation is laid; that there’s the strength to move to negotiations,” said Herizal Hazri. The deputy country representative for the Asia Foundation in Malaysia, Hazri has also been involved in the peace process in the southern Philippines' Mindanao island, where Malaysia is also mediating. “For the southern Philippines what you saw last year [the peace agreement], was 21 years in the making," said Hazri. "That is where we are right now with southern Thailand.” A shadowy conflict What the International Crisis Group (ICG) describes as southeast Asia’s “most violent internal conflict” is largely political, fuelled by a sense of alienation, the militarisation of the region, and a lack of accountability among Thai security forces. Thailand’s government needs to acknowledge the resolution of the conflict as a national priority, give the provinces a greater say in their own government and reduce the military presence, the ICG said in a December report. Still, such proposals are likely to trigger strong opposition in Bangkok, both within the ruling party and the opposition. ICG analyst Matt Wheeler explained that a proposal to create a special administrative zone for the three southern provinces "evoked strong disapproval from some within the Pheu Thai Party as well as the Democrat Party. The Thai state is highly centralised, and overcoming resistance to decentralisation of political authority will be an enormous challenge". The situation is further complicated by the shadowy nature of the fighters themselves. There are thought to be some 20 groups behind the wave of attacks - from bombings, drive-by shootings and attacks on teachers, police and the military - that have plagued the three provinces over the past decade. But none has formally claimed responsibility for the attacks or made any demands beyond a vague desire for an Islamic state. The Barisan Revolusi Nasional-Koordinasi (BRN-C), which has existed since the early 1960s, has been involved in previous talks. Discussions have also involved the Pattani United Liberation Organisation (PULO), whose leaders are mostly overseas; an umbrella group known as Bersatu, which is thought to include both BRN and PULO; and Gerakan Mujahadeen Islam Pattani, which was set up in the mid-1990s by veterans who fought in Afghanistan. Despite the latest overtures, violence has continued in the south. A shooting and two bomb attacks killed one person and injured six only a day after Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the BRN-C signed the agreement, under the watchful eye of Malaysian Premier Najib Tun Razak. Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia’s prime minister for 22 years before he retired in 2003, has experienced the difficulties of peace negotiations first-hand. In 2005, Mahathir convened a round of talks on the island resort of Langkawi in the Andaman Sea. “Although we talk to them, there are so many different factions,” he said in an interview at his office in Kuala Lumpur. “While the ones who talk to us might be willing to cease fighting, the others who are on the fringe may refuse to acknowledge or accept the agreements that have been reached. There are so many groups. There are even individuals who take action on their own, so it’s very difficult to get them to agree to anything.” The Langkawi talks have not been the only attempt at dialogue in recent years. Successive efforts by Indonesia, Europe, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and even exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra - whom critics say bears at least some responsibility for the current violence - have all come to nothing. Thailand's three southern provinces have strong ties with Malaysia’s northern Kelantanese people, who speak their own dialect of Malay and were also once part of a separate sultanate. Even today, the border separating Thailand and Malaysia is easily crossed, allowing regular citizens and insurgents alike to slip back and forth. In the past, Thailand has accused Malaysia of helping the fighters, but given the region’s shared history, analysts say Malaysia is part of the solution rather than the problem. Malaysia 'absolutely critical' "The latest peace initiatives will need much greater commitment from both sides if serious progress is to be made." - Duncan McCargo, author of Tearing Apart the Land According to long-term observers of the situation, the fact that the countries' prime ministers stood together and committed to dialogue was significant. “Malaysia is absolutely critical to the resolution of the conflict for a number of reasons,” said Professor Liow Chin Yong of Singapore’s Rajaratnam School of International Studies. “Firstly, geostrategic - it shares a border with the conflict region, one that is very porous. Secondly, historical - Malaysia has been sympathetic to the struggle in the past so there remain some residual suspicions. And thirdly, cultural - Malaysia’s religious orientation, especially in the northern states, means that there is considerable ethno-religious resonance across borders.” Still, success will depend on conditions on the ground and, ultimately, whether those involved are truly ready to break with the past and commit to a peace process. Duncan McCargo, a British academic and author of Tearing Apart the Land, the first major exploration of the Thailand conflict, notes that although the two prime ministers lent their weight to the initial agreement, the process so far looks little different from previous attempts to negotiate an end to the bloodshed. “There is little evidence that the Thai military is on board, “ McCargo wrote in a commentary for Chatham House shortly after the agreement was announced. “Perhaps most seriously, there is no obvious reason to believe that Hassan Taib, the long BRN 'leader’ who signed the agreement, has the standing, connections or authority to negotiate, let alone to deliver any sort of settlement. "The latest peace initiatives will need much greater commitment from both sides if serious progress is to be made.”

Thai army repels mass attack in restive south Mulims

At least 50 heavily armed fighters launch bold assault on Thai military base, leaving at least 16 attackers dead.

Scores of heavily armed gunmen stormed a military base in unrest-plagued southern Thailand, in a major assault that left at least 16 attackers dead, a military spokesman said. The attack was one of the most ambitious in several years of violence in Thailand's deep south. No military casualties were reported in the early hours assault at the base in Bacho district of Narathiwat province, one of three Muslim-dominated provinces near the border with Malaysia. "We learned of the attack in advance from defected militants," Colonel Pramote Promin, the southern army spokesman, told Thai television. "We were able to secure the camp. All of our force are safe." He added that a key local leader of the fighters, who wore bulletproof vests during the attack, had been killed in the clashes. Insurgency continues A shadowy insurgency calling for greater autonomy has plagued Thailand's far south near the border with Malaysia since 2004, claiming more than 5,300 lives, both Buddhist and Muslim. Members of Thailand's security forces are frequently targeted in ambushes and roadside bombs, while civilians perceived to have collaborated with Thai authorities are also routinely executed. A report by the International Crisis Group (ICG) on the violence in December said insurgents had grown "bolder and stronger" amid political inaction from successive Bangkok governments. "The violence has evolved at a pace that is starting to challenge the ability of the government to respond on its own terms," said Jim Della-Giacoma, ICG's Southeast Asia project director. ICG recommended a greater push towards decentralisation and closer engagement with local civil society groups and peace negotiations with insurgents. It added that the deployment of 60,000 security forces and an emergency decree "have not achieved any appreciable decline in casualties". Five soldiers were killed on Sunday in a bomb attack by suspected insurgents in the deep south, police said. The bomb, which also wounded a sixth soldier, was detonated as the troops passed by in their patrol vehicle in a village in Yala, another southern province.

Pakistani Minister for Defence Production meets heads of defence companies in Thailand

Federal Minister for Defence Production, Rana Tanvir Hussain Wednesday held meeting with defence companies heads at the International Defence Cooperation Exhibition on Defence Security in Thailand and briefed them about Pakistan’s high quality defence equipment. 

“Pakistan has a defence industry which is coming of age. We not only produce high quality defence equipment but are low cost and open to exports”, he said while interacting with delegates from different countries.

The Minister who is on an official visit to Thailand to open up avenues of defence production, said that defence production industry of Pakistan is on a thriving path of indigenization.

“Pakistan is producing high class and low cost defence equipment which can be offered to many countries opening areas of defence production collaboration,” he added.

During the key meetings with world class defence companies heads, he also invited prospective buyers to visit Pakistan and its defence industries.

“Our industry is capable of producing world class air, land and sea defence systems and equipment and the industry has lot of talent in terms of skilled workers”, he added.

The Minister extended an invitation to his counterpart to visit Pakistan during IDEAS-2014 and also thanked his kind office to have supported IDEAS-2012 by ensuring their presence.

The visit was very fruitful and will open avenues of collaboration between Pakistan and Thailand, he concluded.