Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said the government is interested in purchasing Russian military hardware ahead of his visit to the country this week for the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit and to strengthen bilateral ties with Moscow.

“We are also looking at dual-use helicopters that could raise our ability to fight fires. Or dual-use equipment that can be used in construction work,” Prayut said in an exclusive interview to Russia Beyond the Headlines.

In Russia, Prime Minister Prayut will be joined by his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding on a military cooperation between the defence ministries of the two countries. The MoU is one of nine pacts to be signed between the two countries during Prayut‘s visit. The other pacts include agriculture, the safety of fishery products, the environment and investment promotion.

“In my opinion, the defence industry of Russia has state-of-the-art technology and I have admired your capabilities in this area from the time I was chief of the Royal Thai Army,” Prayut said.

“I believe that cooperation in this area should be complementary. For example, we need to have a competitive price and value. I’m glad that both sides can reach an agreement, because when we look in detail into the quality of the helicopter, the technical specifications are accepted by the Army committee,” he added.

It was reported that the military government was interested in buying several items from Russia including Be-200 amphibious aircraft and T-90s main battle tanks, but the deal is still far from finalised.

On Wednesday, Prayut will meet with Medvedev for the fourth time as prime minister in St Petersburg, where they will discuss bilateral ties and witness the signing of MoUs.

Prayut will head to Sochi the following day to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and on Friday he will attend the Asean-Russia Commemorative Summit, marking the 20th anniversary of Asean-Russia ties. Prayut will also attend the parallel Russian-Asean Business Forum that day.

While Thailand and Russia have had diplomatic relations for a long time, Moscow came onto the radar of the government when the Prayut administration needed to forge comfortable relationships with global powerhouses after western countries put harsh pressure on Thailand over its human right practices and democracy setback.

Panitan Wattanayagorn, an international relations academic and a security adviser to deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan, said Russia tended to “understand” the Thai situation and had a non-interference policy in relation to the country. He said this contributed to smooth relations between the two nations.

Still, he said Thailand was “keeping cool” with its critics, insisting the Kingdom would not take offence at their complaints. “It’s much like when you still want to be with your good friend who fights you every day,” he said. The adviser admitted that Thailand’s long-time ally the US could be “slightly irritated” by the Kingdom’s dealings with Russia.

“But there’s nothing abnormal with this,” Panitan stressed. “Actually, Thailand has managed to keep a balance with a number of rivals. You see, we befriend all

countries.”

He said the Thai-Russian talks this time could result in some purchases of average-scale, security hardware with appealing price tags. Thailand was also interested in Russia’s maritime security expertise and other high technology, he said.

He said it could be a win-win situation for both countries, as the Eurasian power appeared interested in selling military hardware to Thailand, as well as widening anti-terror cooperation with the King-dom and other Asean countries.

Russia also needed agricultural products such as poultry, pork and para-rubber from Thailand as it had been barred from buying them from some European countries.

Panitan said Thailand wanted to attract more Russian tourists after a drop in their numbers dropped off last year.

Read Prayut‘s full interview in ‘Russia Beyond The Headlines’, a supplement distributed with

The Nation on Thursday.