Five RI men face piracy charges

Five RI men face piracy charges

THAILAND: Five heavily armed Indonesian men who tried to take over a Thai fishing boat in the Andaman Sea have been arrested and are being held on suspicion of piracy and illegal possession of weapons, the Thai army said on Monday.

The Thai navy boarded the fishing boat last week after it signaled it was in distress and arrested the five men, in their 20s.

Two M-16 rifles, three AK-47s and 1,200 rounds of ammunition were seized from the men, but there was no fighting, the military said. They were arrested off the southern town of Satun and were being held at an army base in nearby Pattani, officials said.

Southern army commander Kwanchart Klaharn said the army was contacting the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok to help identify the men.

Thai authorities suspected they could be involved in the rebellion in Aceh, on the northern tip of Sumatra island, military officials said. --Reuters