Thailand refuses Ukrainian Oplot tanks
Bangkok, home to 12 million, accounts for 41% of Thailand’s GDP, and flooding it would greatly aggravate economic problems. Although the capital of the country emerged dry from the water, many nearby provinces, such as Pathum Tani and Ayutthaya, as well as seven industrial zones, in which the main production is concentrated, were flooded. However, the Head of the Crisis Management Department of the municipality of Bangkok, Weira Wongsangnak, said that for the central part of the city the threat of flooding will continue until Tuesday evening. "The peak of the tide has passed, and the water in the Gulf of Siam will now recede," he said. "If the situation can be kept under control for two more days, then Bangkok is saved." However, the main concern is the condition of the dams. New cracks in the defense system of the city built by 20 years ago appear under the pressure of water every day, ITAR-TASS reports.
If the dams withstand the water pressure, the authorities will have time until November 12 to pump the excess water out of the city. Now Bangkok no longer receives a large amount of water from the flooded provinces located upstream of the Chao Praya River. According to available information, the water level there begins to decline. In particular, the water began to recede in the province of Ayutthaya, where seven industrial zones are flooded. There, production of hard drives at the factories of American and Japanese computer companies was discontinued, assembly lines at branches of concerns Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Ford were stopped. In total, more than 14 thousands of enterprises were flooded, about 600 thousands of people lost their jobs.
The Thai government intends to send 900 billion baht / about 30 billion dollars / to restore the country's industry after devastating floods and create a new water management system. ITAR-TASS One hundred billion baht will be used to restore flooded industrial zones in the provinces of Ayutthaya and Pathumtani. Another 800 billion baht will be spent on upgrading the country's water management system in order to prevent the flooding of industrial zones in the future.
The first stage of the recovery program is designed for a year. During this period, the full restoration of industrial zones will be carried out, said the Minister of Energy of the country Pichai Nariptapan. According to the minister, in the next 20 days 140 powerful pumping stations will be delivered to Thailand to be used to pump water from industrial zones.
The second phase of the program called "New Thailand" involves a large-scale modernization of the water management system of the kingdom. Narriptapan said that the government is considering three proposals from the United States, the Netherlands and Japan, but the cabinet has not yet decided which of them will be accepted.
The Bank of Thailand lowered its 2011 growth forecast for the Thai economy to 2,6%, citing problems in the global economy and the consequences of severe flooding in the country. In order to save budgetary funds, the Government of Thailand decided to curtail military-technical cooperation programs in terms of purchases of military equipment and weapons. According to asiandefense.com, the Defense & Security 2011 exhibition of arms and military equipment, which was supposed to be held in Bangkok from November 2 to 5, is postponed to March 2012.
The elements raging in Thailand indirectly hit the Ukrainian economy. According to confidential information received from reliable sources in Kiev, Ukrspetsexport received a notification from the Thai defense department about the suspension, due to force majeure, of the contract for the supply of the next batch of armored personnel carriers and the complete termination of the supply contract 49 tanks "Hold". According to other sources, Thailand is planning an urgent purchase of Russian helicopters, floating PTS-4 transporters manufactured by Uralvagonzavod Corporation (the quantity is not specified in both cases), medical equipment and rescue equipment manufactured in the USA, Canada and Sweden.
Since the end of July this year, as a result of several tropical storms and heavy rains, two-thirds of the territory of Thailand have been flooded. As a result of the disaster, more than 380 people died, 720 thousands of residents were forced to seek medical help. More than three million people have been affected by floods to one degree or another.
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