Thailand's prime minister expects fishermen seized by Myanmar to be repatriated soon

BANGKOK — Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra on Tuesday said her government is negotiating with neighboring Myanmar for the return of four fishermen captured by Myanmar’s navy for trespassing.

Paetongtarn told reporters in Bangkok that it was confirmed that “all four being detained now are still safe,” after being captured on Saturday, and that she expects their release soon.

Thai officials have said Myanmar’s navy opened fire on several Thai vessels, and that one crewman who leaped overboard had drowned. They said two were injured and were being treated in Thailand.

The incident happened in waters close to their maritime border in the Andaman Sea. One Thai trawler was captured and its crew of 31 detained, four of whom were Thai and the remainder Myanmar nationals. Thailand has a vast fishing fleet but it is largely crewed by men from poorer neighboring countries.

The Thai navy acknowledged that Thai fishing boats had been in Myanmar’s waters, but raised questions about the use of disproportionate force by Myanmar.

An audio statement released Monday night by Myanmar’s military government said that its navy had not intruded into Thai waters in seizing the Thai boat, one of five that had been fishing in its maritime territory since Friday night.

The statement, read by Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of Myanmar’s military government, confirmed that 27 Myanmar nationals and four Thai nationals, all men, were safe in captivity.

Although Myanmar’s military government is ostracized by many Western nations because of its suppression of democracy and poor human rights record, Thailand maintains relatively warm relations with it.

Zaw Min Tun accused “nation-subversive media and some online inciters” of working to damage relations between the neighbors.

“I would like to say that there is good continuous communication between the governments and the militaries of the two sides,” he said.

Early this week, Myanmar’s navy was accused of shooting at a Bangladeshi fishing boat in a contested area in the Bay of Bengal.

Bangladeshi media reported one of six fishermen on the boat was injured by gunfire, but Myanmar’s state-run media said there was no navy vessel in the area on the day of the incident.