https://jamestown.org/program/china...g-military-security-ties-in-the-21st-century/
Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the September 2006 coup, China moved to embrace the new government while its treaty ally, the United States, looked on disapprovingly at the regression of Thai democracy. Nevertheless, as with other countries in Southeast Asia, Thailand seeks to balance the interests and influence of America and China, hedging against alternative futures.
However, Thai purchases of Chinese military equipment during the 1980s was as much for political reasons as military ones, and throughout this period Bangkok continued to rely on the United States for its most technologically sophisticated platforms, such as the F-16 fighter jet.
Moreover, the Thai military was far from impressed with the poor quality of Chinese-made equipment, and while some of it was employed along the Thai-Cambodian border, much it was reserved for training purposes or simply warehoused and left to rust.
In 2001 the Defense Ministry agreed to buy Chinese-manufactured rocket propelled grenade launchers and in December 2002 placed a $98 million order for two Thai-designed offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) [2]. The two vessels—Pattani and Narathiwat—were delivered in late 2005. However, further offers by China to sell a range of defense equipment to the Kingdom failed to materialize. This included a follow-on order for two OPVs and an unspecified number of main battle tanks, while a proposed barter exchange deal involving 66,000 tons of dried Thai Longan fruit for Chinese-made APCs also fell through (instead Thailand purchased APCs from South Africa).
Resistance from the Thai military on quality grounds was one reason for the failure to secure further orders, while Chi’s retirement in 2003 and Chavalit’s exit from politics in 2005 were other important factors.
However, due to concerns over quality and after-sales service, Thailand is unlikely to place any major orders with the PRC anytime soon, though joint research and development leading to co-production of weapons systems is quite likely.
@airtel There goes the narrative about Chinese quality having improved vastly after the 90s, this article was written in 2008.
TLDR: Thai politicians want to buy Chinese weapons because of wanting closer ties with China due to US frowning on the coup and also not wanting to put all eggs in one basket. But the Thai Army doesn't want any Chinese junk so they keep protesting
Also, our esteemed 50 center panel should find this interesting, Thai government couldn't afford even Chinese junk so they wanted to pay with dried fruit. So much for Thai being able to afford better quality stuff and still choosing Chinese.
This included a follow-on order for two OPVs and an unspecified number of main battle tanks, while a proposed
barter exchange deal involving 66,000 tons of dried Thai Longan fruit for Chinese-made APCs also fell through (instead Thailand purchased APCs from South Africa).