Thailand exchanges longans for weapons
BANGKOK: Thailand is to trade 67,500 tonnes of dried longans for 97 Chinese-made armoured vehicles in a deal worth 2.09 billion baht (RM201mil), the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.
A memorandum of understanding was signed here on Friday between Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives and China's Department for International Co-operation, the TNA reported.
The ceremony was presided over by deputy Finance Minister Varathep Ratanakorn and Advisor to the Prime Minister General Sumpan Boonyanun.
In return for the dried fruit, Thailand is to receive 133 Type WMZ 551B armoured vehicles, which are to be distributed to the army (96), navy (24) and police (13).
The WMZ 551B is a six-wheeled amphibious vehicle that weighs about 15 tonnes and can carry up to 11 troops, including a crew of two.
It has a maximum road speed of 80kph and can be mounted with 105mm guns.
China appears to be making a concerted effort to facilitate more arms sales to Thailand.
On the Thai side, it gets to offload many tonnes of longans, a fruit similar to the lychee, that it bought on the open market. – dpa
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