THAILAND’S frigate procurement for the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) is close to a final decision amidst affirmations of a transparent procurement process under oversight. RTN spokesperson Rear Admiral Paraj Ratanajaipan, stated that the evaluation process is currently in its final stage and is approaching conclusion. The selection will reportedly be submitted to the defence ministry’s permanent secretary for approval this month.
RTN Commander-in-Chief Admiral Pairote Fuangchan said the procurement remains on schedule and has been conducted transparently. He also indicated the Navy had selected the best bidder though the Navy has not identified the selected company, saying it will do so after the Defence Ministry approves the procurement.
An RTN statement read: “The RTN places significant emphasis on assessing the vessel’s operational capabilities, weapons systems, support systems, technology transfer provisions, domestic defence industry development, and the overall benefits that Thailand will receive. All considerations are conducted within a clearly defined evaluation framework. Furthermore, throughout the evaluation process, the project has been subject to observation under the Integrity Pact mechanism. This framework allows representatives from the public sector and civil society to participate in monitoring and observing key stages of the project. Such external oversight complements the government’s existing regulatory and supervisory mechanisms, thereby strengthening public confidence that the entire process is being conducted transparently, fairly, and in accordance with good governance principles.”
“It was also noted that although the evaluation process is now in its final stage and nearing completion, the RTN is not yet in a position to disclose the results. “The outcome must first proceed through the established government approval process and be submitted to the authorised authorities for consideration and approval through the appropriate chain of command before any official announcement can be made. This is to ensure full compliance with applicable laws, government regulations, and principles of good governance in public procurement”, the statement continued.
The Royal Thai Navy plans to submit its selection of a private shipbuilder for its first frigate to the Defence Ministry’s permanent secretary for approval in July with hopes that the frigate is to be operational by 2031. The RTN is looking to procure one 4,000-tonne frigate per fiscal year with a budget of US$540 million with the likely possibility that Thailand would order more ships of the same class as the RTN aims to increase its frigate fleet from the current four to eight by 2037. However, funding for the second vessel was removed from the proposed 2027 fiscal budget, with the RTN set to resubmit the proposal in the 2028 budget if necessary amidst budgetary constraints faced by the government.
Accordng to Thai media reports, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HD HHI) and Hanwha Ocean were the last two bidders while Turkiye offered full transfers of technology via the state-owned ASFAT which was another bidder in the programme. Hanwha leverages its advantage which capitalises on its prior experience delivering the HTMS Bhumibol Adulyadej to the RTN while HD HHI is picking up speed on its recent deliveries and new deals with the Philippines. The RTN sent requests for proposals to 11 shipyards, with six submitting proposals in April this year, including Hanwha, HD HHI, Spain’s Navantia, Singapore’s ST Engineering, and ASFAT and TAIS. At the previous Defense & Security exhibition in Bangkok last November, Hanwha Ocean and HD HHI displayed models of the OCEAN 40F and HDF4000 models pitched to the RTN.
The kingdom views offset trade as a major key to defence deals, requiring at least 20% of equipment that would be installed on the frigate to be produced locally in order to raise the share of local company participation. Technology transfer, workforce development, and partial reinvestment of the project budget are also vital to Thailand’s terms.–-shp/adj/dl (Pix:RTN,ADJ)
