Royal Thai Navy slashes budget to help the government fight against COVID-19

The Royal Thai Navy (RTN) will slash its fiscal 2020 budget by 33 percent to help the government fight COVID-19, said the RTN spokesman on April 18.

“The government has asked all ministries to cut their budgets and contribute the excess to the central budget to help compensate the general public whose lives have been affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, or to be used in emergency situations,” he said.

The expenditure, which includes payments for the country’s second and third submarines from China will be deferred to fiscal 2021. The first submarine is scheduled to be delivered to the RTN in 2023.

Other Navy projects that will be affected by the budget cut include anti-submarine helicopters’ overhaul, network-centric database system, training equipment procurement, and the construction of 64 units of apartments for RTN personnel.

Thailand on April 19 reported 32 new coronavirus cases, bringing its total to 2,765, with 47 deaths, according to the spokesperson of the Thai government’s Centre for COVID-19.