Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has told fishermen to install GPS tracking devices on their vessels to avoid straying into a neighbouring country’s territorial waters and sparking a conflict.
Gen Prayut said every fishing vessel owner must comply with a regulation that requires them to register their boats and install a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).
The system allows officials and boat owners themselves to monitor a vessel’s movements and position at sea.
The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will work with the Agricultural and Cooperatives, Interior, Defence, and Information and Communication Technology ministries to enforce these requirements.
Additional measures will be considered if necessary, he said.
These requirements are not new. They were introduced some time ago, but were ignored by fishermen, he said.
Some fishing vessel owners do not want to register their boats and have been able to avoid doing so because certain government and local administrators obtain “benefits” from them, Gen Prayut added.
Meanwhile, Marine Department chief Chula Sukmanop said there are about 3,000 registered vessels of more than 60 gross tonnage that must have VMS installed.
The Fisheries Department is drafting legislation that would require VMS installed in smaller boats. The bill is expected to become effective in March 2018.
“With VMS, officials can monitor the movements of all vessels. Boat crews themselves will not be able to know the location of others since this could result in fishing conflicts,” Mr Chula said.
About 40,000 trawlers have already registered with the department.
Of this number, 3,000 vessels are over 60 gross tonnage and can operate on the high seas, while 7,000 others are smaller boats between 30-60 gross tonnage.
The remaining 30,000 are small boats not required to have VMS.
For those that are required, the equipment costs about 10,000 baht a unit plus a 500-baht monthly service fee.
“Public hearings will be conducted by the Marine Department to gauge the views of fishing vessel operators prior to enforcing the regulations. Some operators may disagree with them because it will increase their operating costs,” Mr Chula said.
Thailand has been urged by neighbouring countries to help prevent its fishing fleet from trespassing in their waters by having VMS devices installed.
At present only 50 fishing vessels are equipped with the devices, and the government is considering setting aside a fund for fishermen to help them buy the equipment.
Gen Prayut yesterday also expressed concern over human trafficking victims working on board fishing boats. Many victims were sold as slave labourers on the fishing boats, he said.
The Social Development and Human Security Ministry has been instructed to help trafficked and abused workers. Sixteen human trafficking victims were recently rescued by the ministry