Thai Royal Navy

A good platform for monitoring submarines, the HTMS Chakri Naruebet is largely under-employed and was not used during theEast Timor crisis of 1999 of the UN, nor in the 2004 tsunami. Furthermore, the Harrier AV-8S is virtually inoperable for lack of spare parts (engines, etc.) and it is not intended the Navy will acquisition a Sea Harrier.

Though originally ambitious, in reality the HTMS Chakri Naruebet remains a misused tool of prestige. The reasons include: little activity on the high seas, poor crew training, repairs not carried out, reliance on its escort, unable to fight against smuggling.

Conventional submarines
Since the Second World War, the Royal Navy no longer possesses submarines. In the late 1990s, the Navy was ready for an agreement to purchase Type 209 or class TKMS Gotland with Kochums. Sources said it would consider, in the 2000s, acquiring second-hand Israeli Gall Class 2 or Class Love New Russians.

Since the Second World War, Thailand has always sought to ensure its security by trying to appease its most powerful rivals, currently the United States Navy and the Chinese Navy, who wage a struggle for influence in its territorial waters. In regard to its immediate neighbors, the Royal Navy succeeded in stemming early the Royal Cambodian Navy, on the east, and the submarine ambitions of the Vietnamese People's Navy on the west.

This allowed Thailand to control, more or less, the Strait of Malacca, which is essential for its maritime trade and security. The traffic in this important area is tight, and in fact the area is a prime zone for piracy and a potential target of terrorism. Thus the Royal Navy has recently received sizeable budgets to acquire buildings and systems of appropriate weapons. This will enable the Navy to also defend themselves against a military escalation in the land dispute in South China Sea.

The purchase of HTMS Chakri Naruebet was further justified at the time by the need to monitor the EEZ Thai (its eighty oil platforms and its fishing fleet, the third in the world) and to control the light sea challenges to the borders of Thailand by Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia. The acquisition of this aircraft carrier as a Landing Platform Dock reflects the will of the Royal Navy to venture offshore, particularly to the Andaman Sea.

It is public knowledge that the competition between the Marine Corps and the Royal Thai Air and Coastal Defense Command (TDCA) gives a priority to the acquisition of submarines, patrol boats and amphibious vessels. Meanwhile, the Thai fleet ages, and the newer buildings are two Chinese frigates Type 053 and two Knox class American ships. These acquisitions are symbolic of the geopolitical positioning on the part of Bangkok

Aircraft carrier
In July 1992, the Royal Thai Navy ordered a copy of the lighter level Spanish aircraft carrier Principe de Asturias. It was commissioned to Sattahip in the Gulf of Thailand on August 10, 1997 under the name of HTMS Chakri Naruebet.

The order by the Royal Navy is the first time Marine South East will have such a building, of 11,486 tons squared, called Offshore Patrol Helicopter Carrier (OHPC). To this end, Spain transferred seven first generation (without radar) Harrier AV-8S Matadors and two TAV-8S Harrier two-seat trainers, while acquiring six SH-60B Sea Hawk ASM helicopters.

Frigates
The frigate Phuttaloetla Naphalai and another Phraya class frigate cruised in formation in the Gulf of Thailand along with U.S. Navy vessels during the CARAT 2008 exercise.

Class Phutthayotfa Chulaok:
Phutthayotfa Chulalok (FFG 461, ex-USS Truett)
Phutthaloetla Naphalai (FFG 462, ex-USS Ouellet)

Kraburi5 Class:
Kraburi (FF 457)
Saiburi (FF 458)

Phraya Class:
Chao Praya (FF 455)
Bangpakong (FF 456)

Makuta Rajakumarn Class:
Makuta Rajakumarn (FF 433)

Tapi Class:
Pads (FF 431)
Khirirat (FF 432)

Naruesan 6 Class:
Naresuan (FFG 421)
Taksin (FFG 422)

Pin Klao Class:
Pin Klao (FF 413, ex-USS Hemminger)

Corvettes
Ratanakosin Class:
Rattanakosin (FS 441)
Sukhothai (FS 442)

Khamronsin Class:
Kamronsin (FS 531)
Tayanchon (FS 532)
Long Lom (FS 532)

Aircraft
Thai Naval Aviation (Kongbin Tha Han Lur) operated from June 1, 1938 until June 1951 with different types of aircraft and seaplanes of Japanese, British and American origins. It did not have aircraft carriers. It was disbanded after the failed coup against Phibun. Today, it is organized around the Sea Harrier and SH-60B Sea Hawk, operating from the aircraft carrier HTMS Chakri Naruebet.