Bangkok: Legal scholars point out that Myanmar used excessive force in shooting at Thai fishing boats, violating international law, and urged the Thai government to take retaliatory measures. Mr. Praprueat Chatprapachai, or Professor Ui, a legal scholar and former candidate for Bangkok MP for the Bang Kapi district of the Democrat Party, expressed his opinion on his personal Facebook regarding the case in which a Myanmar warship fired on three Thai fishing boats, resulting in two crew members injured, one killed, and the arrest of one Thai fishing boat with 31 crew members.
According to Thai News Agency, the United Nations Charter, Article 51, provides for the right of member states to use armed force in self-defense. However, regardless of whether there is an invasion of territorial waters, based on customary principles and the judgment of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which has held in the case of SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES V. GUINEA that the use of armed force by shooting at a f
ishing vessel resulting in the injury and death of the crew is an excessive act and violates the principles of international law.
Under international law, all states must avoid using force as much as possible when arresting a ship, even if it is an illegal ship, because the use of force will cause a great risk of injury or death to people of other nations and will unnecessarily cause conflict in international relations. The traditional method of international practice when encountering a suspicious foreign ship is to warn by sound or a visible signal for the suspicious ship to stop. If the suspicious ship does not respond or does not stop, the officers can board the ship and use force to maintain peace and order. Or if the suspicious ship uses force to shoot at it, the officers can use weapons to shoot back.
If it is true that Myanmar officials shot at Thai fishing boats without warning or prior notification to stop the boats, it would be an excessive act and a violation of international law. The Thai gover
nment must demand that the Myanmar government compensate for the damages and release the captured crew members as soon as possible; otherwise, retaliatory measures (retortion/reprisal) must be taken, such as sending ambassadors back to their country, closing territorial waters, closing borders, restricting imports, boycotting goods, cutting off various forms of assistance to Myanmar, etc., which are actions that can be done according to international law. This is to preserve Thailand’s dignity and to demand full justice for the Thai people who were affected by the incident. With best wishes. -312- Thai News Agency