Thailand’s defense technology agency plans to set up a joint center with China to produce and maintain military equipment in the latest sign of the strengthening security relationship since a 2014 coup in Bangkok. More Chinese armaments are likely to be procured by the Thai government, said the army commander-in-chief earlier this year, while denying Thailand has shifted policy to procure military hardware from China rather than Western countries. In June, Thailand announced a plan to procure 34 armored personnel carriers from China worth 2.3 billion baht ($68 million), the latest sign of closer military relations between the two nations.