Featured: Thales Thailand (video)
When we recently talked about the maritime cooperation of the Netherlands with Thailand, see: www.thailandblog.nl/background/maritieme-handelsmissie-thailand Thales Nederland was named an existing supplier to the Thai Navy. I didn't know a company with that name, so I went looking for more information.
It turned out to include a factory in Hengelo (O), which used to be known as the Hollandse Signaal Apparaten. Well, then my nostalgic heart as a born and raised Tukker opened completely.
Nostalgia
As a little boy I lived near the tiny De Riet station in Almelo. That station (officially a stop) was once built for the many workers who commuted to Hengelo every day to work at one of the three large machine factories, namely Stork, Heemaf or Signaal. In the morning until about 7 o'clock and in the evening between roughly 5 and 6 o'clock it was very busy on working days. I don't experience the morning rush, but I often saw the many trains stop in the late afternoon to drop off hundreds of employees. Most passengers walked home from there, because practically all of them lived in the De Riet district. Fathers of some boyfriends from that time also worked in Hengelo.
Dutch Signal
The factory still exists, but the name has changed. The company, which was already taken over by Philips after the Second World War, has been a company of Thales Nederland since 1990, which is part of the originally French Thales Group.
At the peak of its existence, almost 4000 people worked in Hengelo, nowadays that number has dropped to 1400.
Radar and fire control systems are mainly produced in Hengelo for the Thai navy, among others. Thai naval personnel are regularly present there to be instructed in the operation and maintenance of the equipment delivered or to be delivered.
Thales Netherlands
Thales Nederland is therefore the Dutch branch of the international Thales Group. Approximately 2000 people work in the Hengelo, Huizen, Delft, Enschede and Eindhoven locations. Thales Nederland specializes in the design and production of professional electronics for applications in defense and security, such as radar and communication systems
The turnover in 2015 amounted to approximately 500 million euros, 80% of which was achieved abroad.
Thales Thailand
Part of that turnover therefore comes from Thailand, but the Thales Group does more in Thailand than just from the Netherlands. Thales is present in 50 countries worldwide and has been very active in the region since 1990. In 2006 they opened their own office in Bangkok, where approximately 25 people work. In Thailand, the Thales Group is a supplier of management systems for air traffic control, defense systems (from the Netherlands), communication satellites (Thaicom 3 and 5). The ATMs you use to pay for MRT and Airport Link ticket are also provided by Thales Group. Thales takes care of the signaling along the routes for the Thai railways.
The website of Thales Thailand, where you will find more interesting information about the activities in Thailand, can be found here: www.thalesgroup.com/en/thailand/global-presence-asia-pacific/thailand
YouTube
Several videos about the Thales Group activities can be viewed on YouTube. I chose the video below from (of course) Thales Hengelo:
It surprises me that weapons are produced in the Netherlands and then sold to a military regime, such as in Thailand.
The Dutch government issues the export license. I don't know why Thailand is not allowed to buy Dutch military equipment. They are not at war with anyone.
They are not weapons. We also make and sell a lot of ammunition from the Netherlands. so much so that the Dutch soldiers don't have it.
Based on AKZO, DSM and VDL as an example, we also supply products and chemicals that can be used in wartime conditions.
Oh potato flour is a highly explosive stuff. hmmm where are we.
You must have heard of Thales himself as an old navy man, right? That name sometimes appears in news reports from, among others, the NOS, so I remember. The name was of course already possible because my brother floated around in a boat on a pirate hunt. I didn't know that they also had products for the railways in addition to maritime/air traffic. Thanks Gringo. 🙂
@Rob: in my navy days (sixties) we had wooden ships (minesweepers) and men of steel.
Now it's the other way around, ha ha!
Thales was still an unknown name!
Hollandse Signal, Thomson CSF, Thales…. very familiar names for someone who worked in the Navy. Also in Belgium.
Nice article Gringo. I will work there until November 1 and then retire. Have spoken many times with Thai marines who also happen to live in houses near me. The training of naval personnel often takes half a year or more.
The fact that the number of employees in Hengelo has dropped so much also has to do with the fact that Thales has privatized almost all production departments but also supporting departments in the past twenty years and or sold them to surrounding companies that subsequently work for Thales. Indirectly, therefore, there are still a large number of jobs. All in all, Thales in Hengelo is still the largest employer in Twente if you ignore government agencies and the like.
The "old" Thales (Hollandse Signaal Apparaten) company Gringo has been completely demolished in recent years and all departments are now in new beautiful buildings.
Good evening together.
Thales in Hengelo makes, among other things, the goalkeeper one of the best defense systems for naval vessels.
The goalkeeper is used against low-flying attackers such as planes and missiles.
The goalkeeper has enormous firepower and a very advanced fire control system that can fire on multiple targets simultaneously.
Every NASA spaceship contains a piece of Dutch origin.