The Royal Thai Navy plans to salvage the sunken HTMS Sukhothai using a budget of around 100 million baht as it searches for the last five missing crew members.

HTMS Sukhothai sank in rough seas -- 50 metres deep -- about 19 nautical miles off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan on the night of Dec 18, with 105 crew on board.

A source said the navy has been preparing for a meeting for bidding to select a company for the warship's retrieval.

Among the bidders, 12 have met the specifications defined by the navy -- that the ship must remain intact as much as possible after its retrieval without being disassembled in any way. Retrieving the warship is expected to cost around 100 million baht.

Most of the bidders are confident they can recover the whole ship.

For the missing crew, the navy is still searching for the last five people missing. Of the 105 people, 76 were rescued and 24 others were found dead.