Navy rejects claims of 100 Vietnamese boats trawling Thai waters

RTN spokesman Rear Admiral Weerudom Muangjin issued a statement on Wednesday denying reports published on some websites that more than 100 Vietnamese boats have been fishing off the coast of Nakhon Si Thammarat.

The websites, including the web page of Amarin TV, quoted an unnamed skipper of a Thai fishing boat alleging that Thai fishermen had informed the Navy’s base in the South about the intrusion, but in vain.

The skipper alleged that as many as 100 Vietnamese boats had been fishing in Thai waters from Surat Thani’s Koh Samui to Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Koh Kra.

He alleged that these boats were using illegal tools to comb the seabed for sea cucumbers and were thus severely damaging the environment.

The spokesman, however, said RTN’s Naval Area 2 has been actively protecting Thailand’s territorial waters and was not ignoring any intrusion by foreign fishing boats as alleged.

He said the naval base sent out ships to check as soon as it received reports of intrusion.

For instance, he said, on November 4 it had learned that some fishing boats had entered Thai waters, so it sent HTMS Klong Yai to check and found two Vietnamese vessels, not 100 as reported.

Weerudom added that so far this year, the Navy has seized three Vietnamese fishing boats and arrested 15 crew members.