A Vietnam Coast Guard unit in the southernmost province of Ca Mau has escorted three Thai fishing ships out of Vietnamese waters after discovering them fishing illegally there, an official has said.

Colonel Le Huy Sinh, deputy political commissar of the Vietnam Coast Guard of Zone 4, on Wednesday said three Thai fishing boats had been driven away from Vietnamese waters on Monday.

At 10:00 am that day, the foreign ships were found illegal fishing in the waters of Ca Mau, about 15 nautical miles northwest of Vietnam’s DK1/10 marine platform, which is an economic, scientific and technological service station.

Vietnamese coast guard officers made a report on the encroachment of the foreign vessels and gave them a warning before escorting them out of the Vietnamese waters, Col. Sinh said.

Dozens of foreign fishing boats violate Vietnam’s waters every day to fish unlawfully, the Inspectorate of the Ca Mau Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said, citing reports from local fishermen.

On September 11, coast guard officers on board the ship Thai Police 528 opened fire on six Vietnamese fishing boats when the local vessels were operating off the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

The attacks killed 38-year-old fisherman Ngo Van Sinh, the captain and steersman of one of the fishing boats, and injured two others, one of whom was shot in his thighbone.

On September 17, the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a diplomatic note to the Thai Embassy in Hanoi, expressing deep concerns over the incident and asking Thailand to probe it and punish those individuals involved in accordance with the Thai law.

At a press meeting in Hanoi the same day, ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh demanded that Thai authorities probe the case, handle those concerned, and compensate for the human and property losses of the Vietnamese fishermen.

Thailand is required to prevent similar incidents from recurring in order to avoid causing adverse impacts on the two countries’ strategic partnership, Binh insisted.

Thailand’s Police Major General Apichart Suribunya has promised to vigorously investigate the shootings of those Vietnamese fishermen.

The Thai official, who is also Commander of Thai Interpol, made the commitment at a meeting with Vietnam’s Chargé d’Affaires to Thailand Pham Thanh Nam on Monday on the case.