US-Thai Military Exercise to Have Participation from China

Some 29 countries and 12,000 personnel, including from China, US, Thailand and India are expected to participate in the biennial ‘Cobra Gold’ Asia-Pacific military exercise to be held in Thailand in February 2018.

According to the Royal Thai Armed Forces headquarters, ‘Cobra Gold’ 2018 will be held at the army’s Surathampitak and Suranaree military camps and the air force's Wing 1 in the northeastern province of Nakhon Ratchasima.

Air and marine exercises will take place at the navy’s air division and U-tapao airport and the Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri, Bangkok Post reported.

The seven countries participating in full in the exercises will be the US, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia. Ten countries will join the drill as observers- Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Germany, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Brazil, and Sweden.

The 10 nations which are part of the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team- Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal, the Philippines, Fiji and New Zealand- wll also take part. India and china will also join.

Thailand will send 5,600 personnel while 5,800 will come from the US, 200 from South Korea, 146 from Japan, 68 from Indonesia, 50 from Singapore, and 44 each from China and India.

The field exercises will include amphibious landing drills, and the Non-combatant Evacuation Operation on Feb 17, 2018 at Hat Yao in Sattahip and the navy's air division in Rayong.

Thailand will send five Gripen JAS39 jets, 15 F-16s, four L39 jets, four Alpha Jets, one C-130 military transport aircraft and one EC725 helicopter. Meanwhile, the US will send six F-16CM jets, 10 F-18D jets and four C-130s.

The US amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard will join the exercises in the upper Gulf of Thailand.