Blimp repairs to cost B30m

News > Local News

Published: 14 Dec 2012 at 18.59
Online news: Local News

The army will spend at least 30 million baht to repair its troubled blimp which crash-landed in Pattani province on Thursday while on duty.

The army inspected the surveillance blimp after the accident and estimated the damage at around 30 million baht.

Army Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday ordered the repair and said the army had no plan to ground the aircraft.

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ricefield
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Discussion 18 : 15 Dec 2012 at 13.0318
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Disc 17- "So why are you still messing about with this balloon". Just guessing, retirement fund?
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robertt
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Discussion 17 : 15 Dec 2012 at 08.1217
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A UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle)can be bought for as little as a few thousand dollars, up to 4 million for the Predator and, every price and model in between. So why are you still messing about with this balloon.
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topcat_bk
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Discussion 16 : 15 Dec 2012 at 01.5516
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D15/drsmith:
One would assume that the taxpayers would be mad. But since the vast majority of the voter base in Thailand pay little or no income tax, they generally don't consider this kind of waste a misuse of "their money".
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drsmith
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Discussion 15 : 15 Dec 2012 at 00.5215
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"an emergency landing because of turbulence" Is the day Yingluck is visiting the only day predicted to have turbulent weather in Thailand? No! Blimps are useless in tropical monsoon weather such as Thailand has from May to October and cannot operate during those months of the year due to heavy rain/wind. This is a wasteful purchase that the media and taxpayers should be screaming mad over. Wasteful to repair as soon the rainy season will be here and this blimp will spend the rest of the year in hangar rotting away.
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cinbkk
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Discussion 14 : 15 Dec 2012 at 00.3114
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Not a crash landing, but a rather expensive emergency landing if a large proportion of the craft was damaged. clearly an uncontrolled emergency landing (aka a crash)
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dkinsey12
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Discussion 13 : 14 Dec 2012 at 23.2213
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A blimp is too costly, especially with the current economic problems. Drones are much cheaper and are the air vehicle of choice by most countries in the world.
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franklin
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Discussion 12 : 14 Dec 2012 at 22.5212
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Waters Disc. 9, I’ve wondered the same thing since first setting eyes on this dysfunctional dirigible. Noting that it is unarmed and has “Thai Military Forces” written on the side with the colors of the flag conveniently and boldly fashioned into a circular bulls-eye target, really makes one wonder. The only built-in safety feature seems to be that it can’t fly!
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ricefield
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Discussion 11 : 14 Dec 2012 at 22.1811
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There is a time when the costs far outweigh the benefits. The time has long past on this albatross.
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android
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Discussion 10 : 14 Dec 2012 at 21.1510
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Thai army must be the only security force in the world that use airships for military surveillance purpose.
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waters
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Discussion 9 : 14 Dec 2012 at 21.119
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I can't help but think that this surveillance blimp must be one big fat juicy irresistable target for every insurgent with a rifle.
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Blimp repairs to cost B30m | Bangkok Post: news