Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand protects 38 arrested Vietnamese fishermen

On March 28, Vietnamese Ambassador to Thailand Nguyen Tat Thanh said the Vietnamese Embassy is trying to ensure that the Vietnamese fishermen who were recently arrested and are currently being detained in Songkhla province, southern Thailand, are treated properly in accordance with international law and the laws of the host country.

Illustration photo. (Source: bangkokpost.com)

Previously, Thai press reported that 38 Vietnamese fishermen on 7 boats were arrested by the Thai Navy patrol force while fishing in the Koh Kra island area, 30 nautical miles off the southern coast of Nakhong Si Thamarat province.

The fishermen were accused of “illegally operating” in Thai waters and were then taken to Songkhla naval base, Naval Region 2, to be handed over to the police.

In an interview with a VNA reporter in Thailand, Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh said that through inspections of relevant agencies, the Thai navy, as well as Songkhla provincial authorities, determined that Vietnamese fishing boats from Kien Giang, Tien Giang and Ca Mau were seized by Thailand for allegedly violating Thai waters.

As soon as this information was received, the embassy's citizen protection officers used the hotline that the embassy had established with the Songkhla provincial central prison to talk to the prison management board and representatives of the 38 Vietnamese fishermen being held at the Songkhla central prison. On the afternoon of March 28, a delegation of Vietnamese embassy officers arrived at the scene to provide citizen protection for all Vietnamese fishermen there.

Regarding the direction of resolving this incident, Ambassador Nguyen Tat Thanh said that the embassy wants to ensure that all arrested Vietnamese fishermen are treated properly, in full accordance with international practices, international law as well as Thai law, and urges the Thai government to bring them to trial as soon as possible.

According to the latest information obtained by VNA reporters, on the afternoon of March 28, Thai authorities brought these 38 people to the prosecution agency for trial. The verdict will be announced soon./.

According to Vietnamplus