Thailand

The Thai cabinet has approved an 832 million baht (about HK$254.59 million) counter-trade contract with Indonesia whereby Thailand will receive two aircraft in exchange for 110,000 tonnes of rice. They are Casa CN 235-220 aircraft produced by Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara, the Indonesian plane maker. The turbo prop planes would be used by the agriculture ministry for crop spraying and rain-making, a Thai Government spokesman said. In June, Indonesia sold eight CN 235s to South Korea for military purposes, partly on a counter-trade basis.