The Thai government has insisted that the Myanmar military opening fire at Thai fishing boats in the Andaman Sea on Saturday was an "overreaction" and repeated its demand for the immediate return of the four detained Thai crewmembers.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Monday that the Foreign Ministry had already sent protest letters to Myanmar, stressing that the Thai vessels involved in the incident were unarmed fishing boats.
“It is unclear if we really strayed into their territory [but] they were fishing boats. So, we protested in the letters that it was an overreaction,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry also summoned the Myanmar ambassador to Bangkok to discuss the matter and the meeting would likely occur in a few days, Mr Phumtham said.
He said that the government was trying to coordinate the return of four Thai crewmembers. “They must come back,” Mr Phumtham said.
The defence minister also said that such a marine incident between the Thai and Myanmar militaries had not happened for three decades.
Meanwhile, Maj Gen Thanathip Sawangsaeng, spokesman for the Defence Ministry, said most of the fishing boats were not from Ranong but from Phangnga. Their captains were not familiar with the area and might have gone one or two nautical miles into Myanmar waters.
In Saturday's incident a fleet of 15 Thai fishing boats off Ranong's Koh Phayam was confronted by Myanmar-flagged ships at about 1.15am. One fisherman drowned and two others were injured in the attack.
The spokesman said the Myanmar military initially followed international practices by turning on warning lights to demand that the fishing boats stop for a search. As the boats did not stop, the next step was to fire warning shots at the boats to stop them, he said – but they should not have just opened fire.
“The shooting must aim at gunwales, not hulls. Evidence shows that gunwales were shot but there were too many shots. That is why the Thai government sent two letters to protest Myanmar right away,” Maj Gen Thanathip said.
Along with the protest, the letters also demanded the immediate release of four Thais and 27 Myanmar nationals working on the seized fishing boat, the defence spokesman said, referring to the Sor Charoenchai 8 boat seized by Myanmar following the incident on Saturday.
The spokesman said Thai authorities expected to receive the four Thai crewmembers when the Thai-Myanmar Township Border Committee meets to discuss the issue in two days.
Gen Songwit Noonpackdee, chief of the defence forces, said on Monday that the four Thais were safe.