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KUALA LUMPUR : Thailand says that it is keen to lend a hand in securing the pirate-infested Malacca Strait.
Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon revealed this during an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia during his trip to Malaysia recently.
Pirate attacks are becoming increasingly frequent in Malacca Strait, prompting many countries like the US, Japan and China to offer their help in beefing up security along the strategic waterway.
The latest offer comes from Thailand.
Said Dr Kantathi, "There has been an increase of piracy in Malacca strait, so as a user state, as a neighbouring state, we will be very happy to participate in ways that littoral states would like us to be involved, for example, capacity building; we can contribute to training of personnel. We are quite open, we will be very happy to work closely with our neighbours."
Dr Kantathi says Bangkok is already helping the littoral states Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, by arresting any pirates who flee into Thai territorial waters.
But there has been no let up in pirate attacks along the 900 km waterway; in fact, some say the situation is getting worse.
Said Captain Mukundan Pottingal, executive director of the International Maritime Bureau, "The attacks in the Malacca Straits have risen. It rose to about 37 attacks, which works out to roughly about 1 every 10 days. That's worrying.
“Most of the attacks in the Malacca Straits are emanating from the Indonesian side. One factor could be the lack of deterrent against the pirates. This is in many cases the reason why piracy increases."
Malaysia, on its part, has just sentenced seven Indonesian pirates caught off its coast to caning and 45 years behind bars each.
Kuala Lumpur, which has till now relied on the Malaysian Navy, is also planning to launch a dedicated coast guard unit in November to spearhead its battle against the pirates.
Said Admiral Mohd Anwar Mohd, chief of the Royal Malaysian Armed Forces, "This new agency will focus very much on enforcement. I think what's important later is their visible presence in various strategic hotbeds or hotspots of piracy incidents. I believe this could be one solution that could mitigate or minimise the incidents of piracy in the Malacca Straits."
But with only 20 vessels to begin with, critics say ensuring the safety of the 60,000 vessels that ply the Malacca Strait each year will continue to be a challenge for the Royal Malaysian Coast Guard. _ CNA /ct
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