Warship fires on Thai ship

Warship fires on Thai ship

BANGKOK (Reuter): A Myanmarese worker was missing from a Thai trawler after a Burmese warship fired on the vessel after chasing it into Thai waters, marine officials said yesterday.

The Burmese ship chased the fishing trawler into Thai territory late on Monday, about four nautical miles northwest of Phayam Island in Ranong province, before opening fire, a marine police officer said in a telephone interview from Ranong, about 560 kilometers south of Bangkok.

Seventeen people escaped from the burning trawler but a Myanmarese worker who had jumped over board was seen being run over by the warship and was still missing, survivors told police.

The Myanmarese navy has recently deployed warships near Victory Point, opposite Ranong province, to prevent Thai fishing trawlers from trespassing into its territory.