Containers 'help ease tension' on Trat border

Navy spokesman, RAdm Paraj Ratanajaipan, said the move was ordered by the Chanthaburi-Trat Border Defence Command following an incident on Jan 15, in which barbed-wire fences along the border were cut by unknown individuals, leading to increasing tension which lasted until Jan 17. He said Thai forces had considered the move to minimise disruptions to the lives of local residents in the area. However, on balance it had decided to go ahead. The containers, RAdm Paraj said, were placed only at specific points where previous acts of vandalism or disturbances to public order had occurred. The action was consistent with the terms of the ceasefire agreed by Thailand and Cambodia on Dec 27, and followed existing military positioning. It did not alter the physical characteristics of the area. Separately, the navy said it intercepted Cambodian fishing boats that encroached into Thai territorial waters south of Koh Kut. On Saturday, VAdm Chalermchai Suankaew, ...