Defence Council to declare maritime control off five more provinces to check oil exports

The Defence Council will meet on Thursday to consider declaring 12-nautical-mile maritime control zones off five more provinces to prevent Thai national ships from delivering oil and war supplies to Cambodia, the Royal Thai Navy chief of staff said.

RTN chief-of-staff Adm Thadavuth Thadpithakul, who is also secretary-general of the Thai Maritime Enforcement Command Centre (Thai-MECC), told a press conference at 9:25 am that the Defence Council would hold a meeting later in the day to consider adding 12-nautical-mile control zones to restrict Thai ships.

He said the Thai-MECC would propose that the Defence Council approve control zones for Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phetchaburi, Chonburi, and Rayong.

Earlier, the Defence Council had declared 12-nautical-mile control zones for Trat and Chanthaburi.

Thadavuth said the control measures would apply only to Thai national shipping lines to prevent Thais from supporting Cambodia’s military capacity.

The control will extend from piers and ports to the 12-nautical-mile areas off the coasts of the seven provinces, the Thai-MECC chief said.
He added that the measures would have no set timeframe, but the Thai-MECC would consider lifting them at an appropriate time, aiming to minimise the impact on Thai shipping lines.

Thadavuth also denied reports on social media that the navy had raided and seized Koh Kong and Koh Yo in Cambodia. He said the navy had simply carried out certain military operations to neutralise threats posed by Cambodian troops against Thai military personnel and civilians. He declined to elaborate on the operations.