Five Myanmar fishermen missing at sea as Thai rescue teams expand search

Thai naval divers and rescue teams expanded their multi-axis search operations on Wednesday, scouring both the sea surface and the submerged wreckage of a fishing vessel that sank off the coast of eastern Chonburi Province. Five Myanmar crew members remain missing following the incident, which occurred during severe weather on Monday. Search-and-rescue teams from the Royal Thai Navy deployed specialized divers to inspect the interior and exterior hull of the sunken vessel, as well as surrounding fishing nets and sea floor debris. Naval teams are utilizing real-time wind vector and oceanic current modeling data to calculate potential drift trajectories across the upper Gulf of Thailand. Of the 22 crew members on board—comprising 20 Myanmar nationals and two Thai crew members—16 have been rescued alive, while the Thai captain was confirmed dead. The boat went down roughly 40 nautical miles offshore from Laem Pu Chao in Sattahip district after being struck by strong gale-force winds, heavy rain, and high waves. Neither the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok nor the regime’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Naypyidaw has issued an official statement regarding assistance for the victims’ families, leaving local migrant support networks to monitor the situation. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that 4.6 million Myanmar nationals currently reside in Thailand. Of that total, roughly 64 per cent are formally registered with the Department of Employment, while 36 percent live in “irregular situations.”