Thailand is Beidou navigation network's first overseas client

Thailand has become the first overseas client of Beidou - China's home-made satellite navigation network - which could challenge the dominance of the American GPS system in Southeast Asia.

A 2 billion yuan (HK$2.48 billion) agreement to promote the use of Beidou in Thailand's public sector, including disaster relief, power distribution and transport, was signed by the two countries in Bangkok last week, China National Radio reported.

A Beidou expert at Wuhan University who took part in negotiations over the past few years said yesterday that the Chinese government had chosen Thailand for strategic reasons.

Thailand was a major ally of the US in Asia, and its public sector and military relied heavily on GPS for precise positioning.

"Our government is eager to show the Thais that Beidou can do anything GPS does," the researcher said. "In some areas it can do even better.

"If Thailand can embrace Beidou, other countries may follow and the Americans' political, economic and military power in the region will be reduced."

But the showcase project came with a big cost. According the agreement, China will not only build a national remote sensing system based on Beidou for Thailand, but a large satellite ground station with an industrial park for the development and production of Beidou receivers for the Southeast Asian market.