Thailand eyes buying nearly a billion in new military gear during mass unemployment

What do you do as the leader of a country when your population suddenly sees 20% of its possible livelihood disappear over the course of 6 months? Do you

A) Do what you can to ease the financial difficulties that the average person is almost certainly going to face when your workforce suddenly has 4 million people unemployed with no chance of going back to work any time soon?

-or-

B) Make a lavish purchase for outdated and expensive military vessels during a time where you are at peace and face no eminent threat from anyone?

Well, i'll let you take a guess which one the Thai government opted for.

The top brass in the Thai government attempted to finalize an order for $700 million worth of diesel powered submarines made in China. This purchase decision has been going on for years so it can't entirely be blamed on incompetence of the times because in 2017 when the negotiating began, no one could have imagined that a pandemic would be causing havoc on a global scale. However, the fact that the government would even consider carrying through with the purchase shows the disconnect that the government leaders have with the average Joe, or in this country it would be the "average Somchai."

This sort of public stupidity couldn't possibly come at a worse time for the ruling elite as they were already facing a tremendous amount of public protest and unrest over the perception that the government doesn't care about the normal citizenry. There have been protests in Bangkok and Chiang Mai with growing numbers of participants who are displeased with the way the government handles, well basically everything. A major part of their claim for unrest was based on the fact that the government of Thailand appears to favor the rich and doesn't look out for the middle or lower class.

When you have millions of people that are on the brink of starvation and no chance of employment and then think it is a good time to purchase nearly a billion dollars worth of military hardware, you kind of provide credence to their message.

Plus, even if we take the economic woes brought on by Covid out of the picture you can look at the senselessness of this purchase from a military point of view. Diesel submarines (which is what these would be) are not cutting edge at all and in the face of an actual enemy that has the modern stuff, these expensive toys would be eliminated extremely easily.

Thailand has very good diplomatic ties with all of its neighbors and is very good pals with the USA. The only potential enemy in the area could potentially be China, and that is who this purchase was going to be made from.

The deal was put on hold after public outrage occurred after the news broke from international sources. The local media only reported on it after the fact and did so in a way that paints the government in a positive light suggesting that the leaders decided to put the deal on hold until more important economic matters can be solved (in reference to the near 15% economic downturn.) But this is simply a lie (of course.) The government decided to put the deal on hold after it leaked the public and it was because of the response of the public that they realized the needed to put it on hold. This was not a benevolent decision on the part of the leaders by any stretch.

At the moment the local media, which we all know is controlled by the government, is working hard to spin this story to be about a very small group of counter-protesters who are upset that the youth are criticizing the royal family, which of course is an extremely small part of what the mostly youthful group are actually doing. I'm surprised they really try to do that anymore seeing as how it is relatively easy to get another perspective simply by checking the internet. I don't think anyone actually trusts the local news stations or papers anymore.