Status 21 December 2022
HTMS "Sukhothai", Thai Ratanakosin-class FK corvette. Photo: Royal Australian Navy
On the night of 18 December, around 20 miles off the Thai coast, the 35-year-old 1,000-tonne corvette "Sukhothai" initially sank due to water ingress into the power supply, followed by a total failure of the on-board systems. She was in the sea area to assist local fishing vessels in weather conditions.
Rescue operation
Of the two frigates, a landing ship and two helicopters sent out to help, only the frigate "Kraburi" was able to reach the shipwrecked vessel before it sank. Of the 105 crew members, 76 were immediately rescued or saved from the water - other shipwrecked persons were found up to 60 kilometres away.
Royal Thai Navy frigate "Kraburi" (FF47). Photo: U.S. Navy/S.Smith
However, five victims were also counted, one is said to have survived, others are still being hospitalised. An extensive search is still underway for a total of 24 soldiers - after a 48-hour survival period at sea, it is feared that they were already trapped in the sinking ship beyond rescue. A minehunting boat is at the sinking site to prepare a rescue operation with civilian support. The Thai royal family is committed to helping the survivors and families of the victims.
American old stock
The US-built "Sukhothai" and its sister ship are two of the few remaining US-built Royal Thai Navy platforms from the 1970s and early 1980s. Thailand then turned to the Chinese shipyards and purchased six frigates and two corvettes from there.
Thai carrier "Chakrinaruebet". Photo: Michael Nitz
In addition to a number of corvettes and OPVs, Thailand also operates a Spanish-built small aircraft carrier (1997, 12,000 tonnes), which for financial reasons has not had a flying component for 15 years, as well as a 3,700-tonne frigate newbuilding from South Korea, which was to be followed by a second type.
New buildings from China
A large LPD dock landing ship of the Chinese type 071E (Yuzhao class, 20,000 tonnes) is currently undergoing sea trials in the waters off Shanghai. A new Chinese submarine similar to the Yuan class (based on the Russian Kilo class) is still pending because Germany is not supplying the required MTU engines to China as military material in accordance with the embargo in force since the Tiananmen massacre. A Chinese engine replica is now to be scaffolded, but Thailand does not want to make a decision on this until 2023.
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