Ten Vietnamese crewmembers who are in the custody of Thai authorities after their ship sank due to a collision with a royal Thai Navy boat will be tried for allegedly violating Thailand’s territorial waters, the Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said.
At yesterday’s regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Luong Thanh Nghi said that during the Thai boat’s capture of Vietnam’s CM 99219 TS fishing boat, which had an 11-member crew, on January 2, the two vessels collided with each other, causing the latter to sink.

The Thai boat later saved 10 of the Vietnamese fishermen while the remaining one, captain Nguyen Van Hieu, was rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat, Nghi said.

Hieu returned to Ca Mau on January 4 while the 10 fishermen have been detained in the Thai province of Trat pending trial under the laws of Thailand.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand is working with competent Thai agencies to handle the incident and will take measures to protect Vietnamese fishermen when necessary, Nghi said.

Under Thai regulations, convicted foreign fishermen will be jailed for 25-30 days before being transferred to a center where necessary procedures will be made to expel them to their home countries.

The Embassy neither had a detailed list of the detainees nor contacted them, Nghi said.

Meanwhile, Ho Van Tuan, 43, of Ca Mau, the owner of the boat, told Tuoi Tre that the 10 fishermen include Le Chi Nguyen, Lam Van Thuan, Nguyen Van Do, Nguyen Van Thai, Luong Thuc Hien, Lu Hoang Lam, Lu Hoang Em, Nguyen Chi Thanh, Nguyen Van Hue and Vo Van Dat.

Along with these 10 detainees, about 20 other Vietnamese fishermen from two other boats have also been jailed in Thailand, Pham Minh Tuan, First Secretary of the Embassy, told Tuoi Tre yesterday.

Last year, the Embassy worked with relevant Thai agencies to send nearly 500 Vietnamese fishermen back home after they were detained in Thailand, Tuan said.

Tuoitre