HTMS Khlong Yai has captured three Vietnamese boats with 23 crewmen on board for illegal fishing in Thai territorial waters in the Gulf of Thailand.
V-Adm Naris Prathumsuwan, commander of the Second Naval Area, said HTMS Khlong Yai was despatched to the Gulf of Thailand on Saturday after Songkhla Naval Base received a radio message from a Thai fishing boat that three foreign trawlers were seen near a PTT Exploration and Production Plc oil drill platform.
Naval officers found the three boats in the reported location and seized them. The three boats and 23 crewmen were taken to Songkhla Naval Base on Sunday at 1.30am.
It was learned from a subsequent investigatin that the three trawlers were from Ben Tre in southern Vietnam.
The crewmen have been charged with breaking the immigration law and illegal fishing.
The navy will informed the Vietnamese embassy in Thailand of the legal action taken against the Vietnamese fishing boats and the crewmen, V-Adm Naris said.
Altogether 67 Vietnamese fishing boats have been seized during the past nine months.
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