Myanmar to release four Thai crewmen on Jan 4: Defence minister

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2024

Phumtham says boat owner and crew arrested by Myanmar navy have been handed suspended sentences and will be freed next month

Four Thai fishing crew members imprisoned by Myanmar authorities will be released and deported on January 4, Defence Minister and Deputy PM Phumtham Wechayachai said on Tuesday.

Phumtham said the Thai embassy in Myanmar had informed him that the four Thais – a boat owner and his three crew members – had received the “lightest sentence” from a Myanmar court on Koh Song. He said he expected the Thais to be freed on January 4, which is Independence Day in Myanmar.

The four Thais were arrested last month along with 31 Myanmar fishing crew after a Myanmar warship fired on their boats off the coast of Ranong on the Thailand-Myanmar border.

On Tuesday, Phumtham declined to comment on whether the four Thais had encroached on Myanmar territorial waters before being arrested.

Phumtham said the Foreign Ministry has been coordinating with the Myanmar government to secure the release of the four Thais since their arrest by the Myanmar navy on November 30. The captured fishing crew were detained by local officials on the Myanmar island of Koh Song, just off the coast of Ranong.

Phumtham said the issue was sensitive and, while the four Thais were still being detained by Myanmar, it would not be safe to discuss the possible territorial incursion.

“I don’t want this issue to escalate into an international political dispute. Let’s focus on the safety of the four Thais for now,” Phumtham said.

The government has come under pressure in Parliament for failing to secure the fishermen’s release after more than two weeks in Myanmar detention.

The owner of the captured Thai fishing boat and three of his Thai crew members were handed suspended jail terms by the provincial court in Kawthaung town on Monday, according to a local source. The boat owner was given a suspended term of six years in prison while the three crew members were handed four-year suspended terms.

On November 30, a Myanmar warship opened fire on three Thai fishing vessels. One crew member was killed in the attack after jumping overboard, while the rest were taken prisoner.   

Reports indicate that the vessels were fishing around 20 kilometres west of Koh Phayam when they were approached by Myanmar military boats. Two Thai fishing boats, the Ranong 333 and the Charoenchai 8, were seized and piloted back to Myanmar waters. All 31 crew members remain in detention in Kawthaung, a half-hour boat ride from Ranong.