Asia-Pacific News
Tanks sent on fishy mission in Gulf of Thailand
Jul 23, 2010, 3:44 GMT
Bangkok - The Thai military plans to drop 25 Chinese-made tanks into the Gulf of Thailand to serve as artificial reefs, media reports said Friday.
The T69-2 tanks, purchased from China in 1987 at a 50-per-cent discount, will be shipped to southern Thailand next week to be dumped into the sea off Narathiwat province, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok.
Their mission is to serve as artificial coral reefs, to assist a project initiated by Queen Sirikit to improve the marine ecosystems and increase fish stock in the area, the Bangkok Post reported.
The tanks were decommissioned in 2004.
Then-army commander-in-chef General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh bought the tanks for a cheap price, but their quality proved inferior to those from Europe, the report said.
Chavalit went on to became prime minister in 1996-1997, leading Thailand and the region into the Asian financial crisis which started in Bangkok.
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