Submarines would be based at Thap Lamu in Phang-nga?
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In your July 16 issue you stated that the Thai Navy wants submarines for the "protection of maritime resources". However, the Navy should realise that the primary military role of submarines is, as Wikipedia tells us, attacking enemy surface ships, submar
Accordingly, if the Navy wants to protect maritime resources, submarines might not be the most cost-effective means of doing that. A more suitable craft might be, for example, the Littoral Combat Craft, whose mission is specifically protection of a country’s coastal areas.
In any case, even if the Navy went ahead and purchased the submarines, where would they be based? The US Naval Institute recommends that the minimum operational depth of submarines working close to shore (to protect maritime resources, don’t forget) should be 650 feet. That’s equivalent to 198 metres. As the Gulf of Thailand only has an average depth of 58 metres, this would preclude the submarines operating in the Gulf. They would presumably have to be based at the naval base in Thap Lamu, Phang-nga province, where waters of the Andaman Sea reach an average depth of 1,000 metres. Is this what the Navy really wants?
Sumaet Punyaratabandhu
Bangkok
