A group of local fishermen are planning to gather at Ranong Provincial Hall today to push for the repatriation of the four Thai fishing crew who are detained in Myanmar following an incident in a disputed maritime area off the coast of Ranong last week.
The Thai crew, along with 27 other crewmembers from Myanmar, were aboard the trawler Sor Charoenchai 8, when they were ambushed by a Myanmar navy vessel about 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) off the coast of Koh Phayam.
The trawler was seized and the 31 men were detained by Myanmar authorities following the incident on Nov 30.
Recent reports from local sources suggest the men have been moved to a detention facility in Kawthaung, which lies across the border from Ranong.
Despite earlier pledges that the four Thai crewmembers would be released by Dec 6, the men remain in the custody of Myanmar authorities.
The delay prompted a group of fishermen from Ranong, Chumphon and Phangnga to announce their plan for a protest in front of Ranong Provincial Hall to urge the government — particularly the Thai-Myanmar Township Border Committee (TBC) — to pressure Myanmar authorities to release the Thai crewmembers immediately.
As the immediate, unconditional release of the crewmembers did not take place as promised by Myanmar authorities, the ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, along with the Royal Thai Navy should press their counterpart for an urgent solution, they said.
A source said Thai authorities are preparing to expedite the negotiations over the matter, adding local officials have submitted a request to meet the crewmembers at the detention facility. Similar incidents in the past have involved protracted legal processes before crewmen were released.
The source said a new report suggested the incident took place in an un-demarcated maritime area between the Koh Lam, Koh Khan and Koh Khinok, which are claimed by both Myanmar and Thailand.
All Thai fishing boats are required to have a vessel monitoring system (VMS) installed as per regulations by the Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC). “So the Thai trawler must have been aware of its precise location during the incident,” the source added.
“However, if the incident indeed occurred in the disputed area, the question that needs to be answered is, why was the Thai Navy absent, allowing its Myanmar counterpart to effectively claim the area?”