The Royal Thai Navy has seized two Vietnamese fishing boats and arrested their crews for illegally fishing in Thai territorial waters off Songkhla province.
According to the 2nd Naval Area Command, the boats were spotted 120 nautical miles from a safe water buoy off Songkhla in the early hours of Thursday morning (May 5) by HTMS Thai Muang. Fourteen people were arrested and taken to the Songkla naval base for questioning.
The navy said the trawlers left Ca Mau in Vietnam on May 1 and operated in Thai waters for four days before being captured. The crews have since been charged with illegal fishing and related offenses under the Fisheries Act and their vessels have been seized.
It was the tenth time during this exercise that the 2nd Naval Zone had seized foreign fishing vessels. A total of 14 boats have so far been intercepted and seventy people on board arrested and charged. (NNT)
