The Royal Thai Navy will reallocate its budget to find a way to pay the cost of salvaging HTMS Sukhothai, after the Budget Bureau said it could only put up 70 million baht towards the 130-million-baht cost, a source in the navy said.
Navy chief Adm Choengchai Chomchoengpaet has asked the navy's comptroller to review its budget to see if it could find the money to pay the difference, the source added.
HTMS Sukhothai sank in rough seas about 19 nautical miles (35 kilometres) off the coast of Prachuap Khiri Khan on Dec 18 last year. Out of the 105 crew aboard the ship, 76 were rescued, 24 died, while five remain missing.
The navy wants to salvage the ship to investigate the cause of the ship's sinking. It has requested about 200 million baht to fund the operation.
However, as Thailand is gearing up for an election, the budget must be approved by the Budget Bureau and the Election Commission before the cabinet can disburse the fund.
If the agencies approve the fund, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as defence minister, will forward the proposal to the cabinet for approval.
According to the source, 12 firms have shown interest in undertaking the operation which is expected to take about 90 days to complete. The navy wants the entire ship to be raised without the vessel being disassembled.
