FM:Thai crewmen abducted by pirates in Guinea remain safe

BANGKOK, August 8 (TNA) - Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul says Thai crewmen who were kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria on August 4 have been safe, as Thai authorities are trying to arrange for their release through the Nigerian government. Regarding the abduction of the Thai crewmen from an oil tanker of Sea Trucks Group Co. in the Gulf of Guinea, Surapong told journalists Wednesday that the Thai Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria's capital, learned that Sea Trucks Group could reach all the kidnapped Thai people and confirmed their safety. Surapong revealed that he has ordered the Thai Embassy to Nigeria to work with the Thai Embassies to Malaysia, Indonesia and other member countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to help convince the Nigerian government to arrange for the safe release of the Thai hostages through non-violent means. The foreign minister promised that his ministry will try every mean to rescue the Thai people but the process will take times, noting that another group of Thai crewmen of the same company were kidnapped by pirates on Sept 23, 2010 and the company had taken about a month to rescue them. Regarding assistance for 92 Thai people arrested in Myanmar recently, the foreign minister told reporters that nine of them were additional charged with illegal possession of weapons and narcotics while 83 others were accused of illegal immigration only, and that a Myanmar lawyer hired by his ministry is trying to assist them. (TNA)