Thailand Cooperates On Investigation Of Murdered Chinese Crewmen

BANGKOK, December 1 (TNA) - Thai Defence Minister General Yuthasak Sasiprapa insisted Thursday that his ministry is willing to cooperate on an ongoing investigation of a case in which 13 Chinese crewmen were brutally murdered in the Mekong River in Thailand's northernmost Chiang Saen District of Chiang Rai Province in early October 2011. General Yuthasak said that the Chinese government appeared to have had no doubts on the investigation on the case, as Beijing should have contacted him if it had suspected that Thai soldiers were behind the murder. The dead crewmen are believed to have crewed two Chinese-flagged cargo ships which were hijacked by drug traffickers on October 5. Three bodies were later found on October 7 and another nine the following day. Most bodies had been blindfolded, tied and handcuffed. The Thai defence minister made the remarks, as suspects of the murder case--who are both active and retired Thai soldiers--are now being interrogated by Thai police. Touching on a plan on joint patrols along the Mekong River, especially around the Golden Triangle area, notorious for being a major cross-border transit of drug trafficking, General Yuthasak said he had learned that the joint patrols, if implemented, would benefit all nations concerned, including China, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand. The Thai defence minister confirmed that Thailand, which shares nine kilometres on the Mekong River, would definitely cooperate on patrolling the concerned area even by its own forces, rather than relying only on joint patrols with the concerned nations. (TNA)