The real sting in the Black Widow Spider's bite

The Black Widow Spider, a made-in-Thailand armoured personnel carrier given a suitably “ominous” name for a piece of military equipment (it’s to be hoped the police don’t get one), represents a teaser of sorts for what the future might hold.

Unveiled at last week’s “Defence & Security” trade fair, the Black Widow is the first major military vehicle ever manufactured in this country, and Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who’s also Defence Minister, wants to see more.

If the military-led government has its way, the private sector will be teaming up with the Defence Technology Institute next year to produce or assemble more such equipment. Prawit said the Army, Navy and Air Force have been “asked” to buy locally made hardware once it becomes available.

Meeting our own needs rather than importing from abroad is a commendable goal – except when it’s more expensive.

Thwarting the Thai military’s ambition is the fact that domestic manufacturers are at present unable to keep up with the rapidly evolving technology involved. If the government wants a local industry so that it can slap “Made in Thailand” labels on defence hardware, it will have to invest massively in research and development, an area that’s never been the country’s strong suit in any field.

Given this shortcoming, jumping into manufacturing weapons systems would be extremely expensive. Importing the gear will remain the most viable option for the foreseeable future. Rather than producing more showpieces like the Black Widow Spider for bragging purposes, the military should be spending taxpayers’ money more wisely.

One of the aims in laying the groundwork for local armaments production is to foster closer cooperation within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, what Prawit calls “mutual growth”. With the onset of the Asean Economic Community, forging a regional military industry does have appeal, but it’s hardly cost-effective.

When former Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont was Army chief, he set up a series of marksmanship competitions to build personal connections among the military brass of the region. It was a low-cost but effective way to bring the soldiers together and develop a sense of unity, even camaraderie.

A region-wide defence technology industry would be an entirely different matter, requiring an immense and long-term financial commitment.

In addition, before the Thai military charges into uncharted territory, we say again that it needs to assess its own scale and effectiveness. The Armed Forces are simply bloated beyond useful efficiency. With more generals and admirals on the payroll than many developed nations, they’re spending most of their budget on salaries and pensions rather than modernisation and capability enhancements.

So a better move at this stage would be trimming personnel, mainly off the top. That might clear away the rigid, outdated mindset that sees progress only in further expansion, bigger always as better.

The utter absence of threats from abroad notwithstanding, what Thailand needs is a “lean and mean fighting machine”, not an aged bureaucracy rendered almost immobile by its girth. We need its leaders to be mindful of far more pressing needs than hi-tech submarines, scary troop carriers and, perish the thought, more surveillance blimps.

The ill-considered reconnaissance dirigible was, of course, intended to curtail the insurgency in the southern provinces. That tragic conflict continues unabated. Is the intention now to send in the Black Widow? How long would it be before a home-made roadside bomb flips it on its back?

The junta should be mulling its historical legacy and stop wasting money that would be better spent in more practical ways.