Navy vows protection (r)

[dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Just imagine the not unimaginable possiblity of the Thais and Burmese
who have a long history of hate and war, fighting it out with Burma
supplied by Chinese boats and arms, and the Thai's armed to the teeth
with US weaponry. Would they even dare? Somthing to shake your head
about...I guess Rangoon isn't as stupid as all that. But if the Thai's
did force them into a serious military conflict, well, Noreiga is in
jail still today, and guess who is in Panama...ds

suriya wrote:
> 
> Politics
> Navy vows protection
> THE Thai Navy vowed on Monday to make every effort to protect Thai vessels
> doing legitimate business in Thai maritime zones.
> Officials of both countries are in discussions aimed at preventing any
> re-occurrence of a series of clashes between the Thai navy and Burmese
> vessels.
> 
> ''As the agency responsible for protecting our national interest at sea, the
> Navy will do its best to protect Thai ships doing legitimate business
there,''
> the Navy said in a statement issued on Monday.
> The statement came after a Thai vessel, Tuangsap 9, radioed the Chao Phraya
> naval ship on Saturday that it was being attacked off Ranong province near
> Chang island by two armed Burmese vessels.
> One of the Burmese ships belonged to the Burmese Navy, according to the Thai
> Navy statement.
> The Thai naval vessel and two other commissioned boats rushed to the scene,
> which was inside Thai territory, where they were confronted by the Burmese
> ships. Both sides then sailed along the boundary for a period before
> departing.
> 
> The statement said the Thai Navy then escorted the Tuangsap 9 to shore.
> Thai and Burmese vessels have in past years been involved in a series of
> clashes at sea, mainly due to unclear maritime zones.
> In several cases, however, Thai fishing boats were found to be poaching in
> Burmese waters.
> Meanwhile, Thailand will urge Burma to seek ''interim measures'' to prevent
> potential violence in the disputed maritime area during an upcoming
meeting of
> the Regional Border Committee (RBC), said Kitti Wasinondh, deputy spokesman
> for
> the Foreign Ministry.
> He said both countries should implement temporary measures to prevent
> outbreaks

> of violence similar to earlier ones, including the Saturday incident.
> Kitti said although there was no violence involved in the latest
incident, the
> two sides should prevent possible future confrontations from occurring.
> ''Thai and Burmese officials will discuss the issue at the RBC meeting in
> March. We should seek interim measures to avoid future confrontations,'' he
> said.
> The Nation