20 May 2021

Thailand cuts defence budget again

by Jon Grevatt

Thailand plans to cut its defence budget for 2022 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be the third reduction in military expenditure in consecutive years if approved by the country’s House of Representatives next month.

The country’s 2022 budget brief – published recently by the government’s Budget Bureau – shows that Thailand’s proposed defence budget for fiscal year (FY) 2022 (which starts October 2021) will be THB203.28 billion (USD6.5 billion). According to the budget document, this represents a cut of around THB11 billion (or a decline of 5%) compared with the 2021 allocation of THB214.53 billion.

The 2021 allocation amounted to a cut of about THB17 billion (or a decline of 7%) compared with the THB231.74 billion appropriation in 2020.

Janes analysis suggests Thailand’s defence budget will face near-term declines (Janes Defence Budgets)

However, in terms of the proportion of the government’s proposed overall spending for 2022, the defence budget has risen marginally to 6.6%; in 2021 it was 6.5%. For 2022, the Thai government has been forced to reduce its plan for total spending by 5.6% largely owing to the economic impact of Covid-19.

In 2020, the defence budget amounted to 7.2% of the national expenditure and in 2019 it was about 7.5%. Janes analysis suggests that the last time it was below 7% before 2020 was 2006.

In terms of the 2022 defence budget, the budget brief shows that the Royal Thai Army (RTA) will receive THB99.37 billion (or 49% of the total defence budget), with the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) and the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) allocated THB41.30 billion and THB38.40 billion respectively.

Thailand plans to cut its defence budget for 2022 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be t...

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