Junta-ruled Thailand says it will buy three Chinese submarines

Military-ruled Thailand will buy three submarines worth around $1 billion from China, the defense minister said on Friday, a move that signals warming ties with the regional superpower as relations with the United States cool. Thailand's army seized power in a May 2014 coup following months of street protests, toppling the remnants of the civilian government led by Yingluck Shinawatra. Since then, the military government has sought to improve ties with China which has stepped into the vacuum left by Western governments that have kept the junta at arms length and called for a rapid return to democratic government.