Major Non-NATO Ally Recieves 30 American Helos

Thailand Receives 30 Refurbished Helicopters from U.S.
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BANGKOK

The United States on June 29 presented war-on-terror ally Thailand with 30 refurbished helicopters under a $30 million deal, U.S. officials said.

Ambassador Darryl Johnson handed over the UH-1 helicopters, some of them nearly 40 years old, to officials of the Royal Thai Army at an aviation center in Lopburi province north of Bangkok.

“We know you will make good use of these UH-1s, as you have the Black Hawks you have purchased the past several years,” a U.S. embassy statement quoted Johnson as saying, referring to American-made combat helicopters in the Thai military.

The Thai army signed a deal with the U.S. government to buy the 30 aircraft in late 2001, the statement said, adding that the UH-1s presented June 29 were used by the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1990.

Thai military operations in recent years have focused primarily along the border with Myanmar, but since January attention has shifted to southern Thailand where a Muslim separatist insurgency has flared.