23-6-2023 (BANGKOK) In a recent operation, the marine police in Songkhla apprehended two Vietnamese fishing boats and arrested 11 crew members in the waters off the southern provinces of Pattani and Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Pol Lt Col Nathapong Takaew, deputy chief of the Songkhla-based Marine Police Sub-division 7, reported on Friday that the first boat was captured at approximately 2pm by a marine police team. The interception took place around 80 nautical miles east of the Songkhla navigation floating light.
The boat, carrying a crew of five, was found engaging in the illegal activity of catching sea cucumbers near Ko Losin island in Pattani.
Shortly after the first seizure, another Vietnamese fishing boat, with six crew members onboard, was apprehended by a separate marine police team. This interception occurred approximately 44 nautical miles east of the Songkhla navigation floating light, near Ko Kra island in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Both boats were subsequently towed to the marine police boat pier in the Muang district of Songkhla province.
The 11 crew members now face charges of violating the Fisheries Act of 2015, the Immigration Act of 1979, and the Navigation in the Thai Waters Act of 2003
