The change of power in Thailand, including a new Prime Minister and Defence Minister at the helm, has renewed focus on defence awareness with long delayed procurement projects reviewed and recent purchases made. This, combined with a steadily increasing defence budget since the coup in 2006, has made Thailand one of the most promising defence markets in Asia. The uncertainty that plagued Thailand for nearly four years after the coup, with rival "Red Shirt" and "Green Shirt" gangs battling one another in the streets of Bangkok appears to have ended with the election of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (a sister of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra over whom the troubles actually began). Since the beginning of this year, Thailand is back to business with the economy growing at a healthy pace and the defence and security establishment renewing concentration on matters of international security and the protection of Thailand's borders, not to mention the replacement of obsolete equipment and initiating new procurement programmes.
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