Myanmar issues protest to Thailand

Myanmar issues protest to Thailand

BANGKOK (AP): Myanmar's Foreign Ministry has summoned
Thailand's ambassador in Yangon to protest over what it said was
an unprovoked attack by the Thai Navy on one of its patrol boats,
the ministry said on Friday.

Thai naval officials, however, said the Myanmar vessel opened
fire first with machine guns after a Thai patrol boat answered a
distress call from two fishing trawlers whose crew said the
Myanmar ship was chasing them.

The clash took place in the Andaman Sea near Ranong, where
Myanmar's southernmost tip converges with peninsular Thailand.

Thailand and Myanmar, also known as Burma, are neighbors with
a long history of tension and mistrust.

Following the skirmish, Thai naval officials said they
dispatched the warship Chao Phraya to the area to support its
patrol boats, while Myanmar sent 10 ships as reinforcement.

The disputed waters in the area have been the site of several
recent skirmishes between Thai and Myanmar vessels, with both
countries claiming the other's fishermen are poaching in their
waters.

Myanmar's Foreign Ministry said its patrol boat, the Yan Naing
510, was well inside the Myanmar waters," at the time of the
incident.

The Thai Navy disagreed, and the Bangkok Post printed a map
which purportedly shows the site of the clashes were in Thai
waters.

Thai naval sources said they thought the incidents stemmed
from the fact that Myanmar uses British charts of the area, while
Thailand uses French, and the maritime boundaries are different
on the different charts, according to the Post.

The Myanmar ministry said its country's ship was on a routine
patrol in the area when it was fired upon.

The Thai Navy said it thought three Myanmar crew were killed
and the ship significantly damaged, but the ministry statement
acknowledged no casualties and said damage was minor.

"During the incident, (the) Myanmar vessel did not retaliate
in the spirit of friendly relations between the two countries and
also to avoid further aggravation," the ministry said.

Meanwhile, working with local police, the Thai military has
arrested six armed men from Myanmar believed to be intelligence
officers for their country's government, local papers reported on
Friday.

The six were arrested at house in Kanchanaburi in western
Thailand, not far from the Myanmar border, and were being kept in
custody on a military base, the paper said.

Military personnel said one of those detained had been
identified as Yang Chu, whom they said was a captain in the
Myanmar intelligence service.

"We believe they are spies, but can't say that officially for
fear that it may affect relations with Myanmar," Gen. Sanchai
Ratchawan of the Ninth Infantry was quoted by the Post as saying.

Myanmar's military government did not immediately respond to
the accusations.