MAE SOT, Thailand/BANGKOK - A Myanmar court jailed four Thai fishermen for up to six years for illegal intrusion and fishing in its waters but suspended their sentences to maintain good relations between the neighbors, a Thai newspaper reported, adding they are expected to be released soon.
The four fishermen were detained on Nov. 30 along with 27 crewmen from Myanmar, after a Myanmar navy boat had opened fire on several Thai boats near the neighbors’ common border in the Andaman Sea. One fisherman drowned after he jumped off a Thai boat during the shooting and two were injured.
Thai navy officials cited their Myanmar counterparts as saying the Thai boats had intruded up to 5.7 miles (9 kilometers) into Myanmar waters.
Thailand and Myanmar have several areas of dispute on their long land border as well as on their maritime border off the southern tip of Myanmar and southwest Thailand, and disagreements occasionally flare up.
Thai foreign ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura said on Dec. 5 that the four Thais had been released and were being processed at the immigration checkpoint in the Myanmar town of Kawthoung. But they never showed up in the Thai town of Ranong on the other side of a border inlet.
Thailand’s Khaosod newspaper reported on Monday that a Kawthoung court had sentenced the boat’s captain to five years in prison for illegal fishing in Myanmar waters and another year for illegal entry. It did not provide a source for its report.
The three other Thais were each sentenced to three years in prison for illegal fishing in Myanmar waters and an additional one year for illegal entry, the newspaper reported.
The court had shown mercy after the boat’s captain confessed to fishing for mackerel in Myanmar waters and their prison sentences were suspended “to maintain good international relations,” the newspaper reported
“All four Thai crew members will be released back to Thailand during the upcoming New Year 2025 festive holiday,” the newspaper said.
Radio Free Asia was unable to contact the court in Kawthoung for comment. Spokesmen for Myanmar’s ruling military were also unavailable for comment.
The Thai foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on the Khaosod report about the suspended sentences, merely saying in a release: “The actions taken by the Myanmar side are based on Myanmar law regarding foreign fishing vessels and Myanmar immigration law.”
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A pardon?
But Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on Monday evening that the four Thais would be pardoned and released.
“It is typical in a justice system to hand down such rulings, to be followed by a pardon,” Paetongtarn told reporters.
“We have talked about and discussed this,” she said, referring to the Myanmar side, adding that the four could be freed after the New Year.
The 27 Myanmar crew members on the detained Thai boat, the Sor Charoenchai 8, have been sentenced to four years in prison with a fine of 200,000 kyat (US$95), said Ye Thwe, president of the Fishers Rights Network.
Ye Thwe said it was the responsibility of Thai authorities and a system known as Port-In Port-Out, or PIPO, to monitor fishing and ensure it is done legally. The fishermen themselves should not be blamed, he said.
Activist groups have long criticized PIPO authorities for what the groups see as the failure to crack down on debt bondage and other labor abuses on board vessels.
Ye Thwe said the Thai boat owner or Thai authorities should help the relatives of detained fishermen.
“Especially the families, they’re saying that it’s not fair,” he said. “Without the fishermen … they have no income. That’s why the boat owner or the Thai government should respond on this.”
It was not the first incident in the contested area in recent years.
In 2020, Myanmar detained a Thai fishing boat carrying 20 Thai and Chinese tourists, saying it had entered Myanmar waters illegally. Myanmar held the tourists for a month before their release following negotiations.
Editing by RFA Staff
Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this story.