Cambodian fishing crew held after boat found in Thai waters off Trat
The Royal Thai Navy detained an unidentified fishing vessel operating in Thai waters off Trat yesterday, February 22, after it had reportedly crossed about one nautical mile past the Thai–Cambodian maritime boundary.
Rear Admiral Paraj Ratanajaipan, the Royal Thai Navy spokesperson, said the Gulf of Thailand Protection Task Unit spotted the vessel at about 9.30am while on a routine patrol off Trat.
The navy described the boat as about 11 metres long, green with a white stripe and a white cabin, and carried three Cambodian crew members.
The boat was reportedly fishing inside Thai territorial waters, having entered from the sea border line between Thailand and Cambodia.
Navy personnel carried out a search and arrest under Section 4 of the 1947 Act, authorising naval officers to suppress certain offences at sea.
A preliminary inspection found the vessel had no name and no nationality. Officers also did not find vessel documentation or identification documents for the crew.
The Cambodian crew members reportedly confessed that they had been hired by a Cambodian financier to go fishing as part of several boats, and claimed they did not know they had crossed into Thai waters.
At about 2pm, officials brought the vessel and all suspects to the multi-purpose pier at Khlong Yai district, Trat province, to hand the case to investigators for legal proceedings.
The Royal Thai Navy said it would maintain forces in the border area around the clock to build confidence among Thai fishers and to enforce maritime law strictly to protect sovereignty and the country’s maritime interests.
It added that operations would follow principles of proportional use of force, the right to self-defence, and international humanitarian standards, reported Channel 8.
Similarly, back in September last year, the Royal Thai Navy deployed HTMS Hua Hin to intercept a foreign vessel behaving suspiciously in Thai waters west of Phuket. The vessel was reportedly a Vanuatu-flagged fishing vessel. Attempts by the Marine Department to contact the vessel by radio were unsuccessful.
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