Thailand To Buy Eight T-50 Jet Trainers From South Korea For $258 Million

Thailand cabinet has approved the purchase of eight supersonic T-50 jet trainers worth 8.8 billion baht ($258 million) from South Korea.

The cabinet approved the purchase, said Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Tuesday.

The purchase will be financed by the dedicated budget of the Royal Thai Air Force over the next three years; Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon was quoted as saying by Bangkok Post Monday.

Thailand's defense ministry has stressed that it was not buying exclusively from China and is still making purchases from other countries, including the United States, an old ally.

The cabinet approved the purchase of eight further jets in the second phase of a 2015 deal in which Thailand bought four jets from South Korea, Prayuth was quoted by Reuters as saying Tuesday.

"We got the South Korean ones," Prayuth added. "You can see that we are not tied to one particular country."