Navy chief: Cockle wars over
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... -wars-over
SURAT THANI: Local figures wielding influence were being neutralised and the disruptive dispute between cockle farmers and local small-boat fishermen was drawing to an end, navy chief Adm Ruechai Ruddit said on Thursday.
Adm Ruechai said the conflict off the coast of Bandon Bay in this southern province had eased after cockle farmers began dismantling the roofed platforms they built to protect their shellfish breeding areas against raids by local fishermen.
The various agencies involved were integrating their efforts and enforcing relevant laws to tackle the problem. Progress was being made and the situation was improving. There would be no further disputes in the future, he said.
The navy chief said local officials were to blame for allowing influential figures to wield influence over the sea. This influence was now fading. The intervention of agencies which teamed up as the Sornchon task force was creating a balance of power, and this would naturally neutralise the influential figures.
Adm Luechai was commenting after inspecting the operations of the task force tackling the encroachment in Bandon Bay, in Muang district, on Wednesday.
Cockle farmers have been illegally occupying large areas of the sea, which is in the public domain.
Influential figures were reported to have laid claim to areas of the sea and then leased or sold them to people eager to invest in the profitable shellfish trade.
Investors occupied areas off Phunphin, Muang, Kanchanadit, Don Sak, Chaiya and Thachang districts, developing them as private farms breeding the profitable bivalve, also known as the blood clam. Coastal fishermen argue that the areas are public, and that they have the right to harvest the shellfish.
This has led to sometimes violent clashes.
Cockle farmers occupied an estimated 300,000 rai off the coast of the six districts. They built roofed platforms in the sea, where they stood guard over their farms.
There were a total of 1,010 platforms reported in the area: 90 in Muang district, 70 in Phunphin district, 400 in Kanchanadit district, 200 in Chaiya district, and 250 in Tha Chang district.
Navy chief: Cockle wars over
Navy chief: Cockle wars over
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: Navy chief: Cockle wars over
You could rent the one above as a luxury holiday house! Swimming and fishing at your doorstep. 
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source
-
dtaai-maai
- Hero
- Posts: 14336
- Joined: Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:00 pm
- Location: UK, Robin Hood country
Re: Navy chief: Cockle wars over
You can see now why the Thai navy needs a couple of submarines...
This is the way
Re: Navy chief: Cockle wars over
I have had a bit to do with structures at sea over the years and I would like to know how anybody could build that without some authority knowing about it? For a start it would need some form of pile driver and construction barge to install foundations big enough to carry that weight, even in shallow water. Then it is in sight of the land, so many people must have been able to see it. But then I guess that all that was really needed was a few brown envelopes!
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!
Re: Navy chief: Cockle wars over
New skirmish in 'cockle wars'
Operators deploy 100 boats to guard illegal farms in Surat Thani to keep fishermen out
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ockle-wars
SURAT THANI: Cockle farmers have headed out to sea to guard their territory following the death of a colleague from heart failure after a dispute with fishermen harvesting shellfish from an area to which he had laid claim.
Owners of the cockle farms on Saturday deployed about 100 longtailed boats to guard their farms in Bandon Bay, part of Phunphin district in the southern province.
Outside the bamboo fences surrounding the farms, a group of 300 fishermen in 200 boats were waiting to collect cockles, or hoi kraeng, also known as blood clams, in the sea.
The standoff prompted the navy, whose commander only a few days ago declared the “cockle wars” nearly over, to send patrol boats to the area to observe the situation.
On Friday, Surat Khotcharat, 61, was in his boat along with a group of other cockle farmers who were seeking to keep fishermen out of his 80-rai compound. He had invested more than 3 million baht in the operation and was breeding cockles for sale.
Surat and his colleagues got involved in a heated quarrel with the fishermen, and he suddenly collapsed and died of heart failure in his boat.
The loss of life should not have happened, said Sutthipong Khlai-udom, the deputy governor of Surat Thani. Small-scale fishermen and cockle farmers could co-exist, he noted.
The cockle farms are in fact illegal as the sea is in the public domain. But some of the lucrative operations are said to be backed by influential figures in the province, which could explain why they have been hard to dislodge.
Measures would be taken to prevent a loss of life in the future, said Mr Sutthipong. Officials need to create an understanding among those involved that the sea 5.4 kilometres off the coast is public domain and that everybody should have access to it, but they must not violate the rights of others, said the deputy governor.
Cockle farmers, who have invested millions of baht setting up their breeding facilities off the coast, have erected bamboo fences around the areas they illegally claim, with guard towers built on stilts. They keep watch from the towers against any approaches by small-scale inshore fishermen, who claim the public right to harvest the profitable shellfish.
The conflict reached a new high on June 10 when cockle farmer Santi Nuansaen fired a pistol into the air from his jet ski to drive fishermen away from his compound. He was later charged by police with discharging a firearm in public.
Operators deploy 100 boats to guard illegal farms in Surat Thani to keep fishermen out
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ockle-wars
SURAT THANI: Cockle farmers have headed out to sea to guard their territory following the death of a colleague from heart failure after a dispute with fishermen harvesting shellfish from an area to which he had laid claim.
Owners of the cockle farms on Saturday deployed about 100 longtailed boats to guard their farms in Bandon Bay, part of Phunphin district in the southern province.
Outside the bamboo fences surrounding the farms, a group of 300 fishermen in 200 boats were waiting to collect cockles, or hoi kraeng, also known as blood clams, in the sea.
The standoff prompted the navy, whose commander only a few days ago declared the “cockle wars” nearly over, to send patrol boats to the area to observe the situation.
On Friday, Surat Khotcharat, 61, was in his boat along with a group of other cockle farmers who were seeking to keep fishermen out of his 80-rai compound. He had invested more than 3 million baht in the operation and was breeding cockles for sale.
Surat and his colleagues got involved in a heated quarrel with the fishermen, and he suddenly collapsed and died of heart failure in his boat.
The loss of life should not have happened, said Sutthipong Khlai-udom, the deputy governor of Surat Thani. Small-scale fishermen and cockle farmers could co-exist, he noted.
The cockle farms are in fact illegal as the sea is in the public domain. But some of the lucrative operations are said to be backed by influential figures in the province, which could explain why they have been hard to dislodge.
Measures would be taken to prevent a loss of life in the future, said Mr Sutthipong. Officials need to create an understanding among those involved that the sea 5.4 kilometres off the coast is public domain and that everybody should have access to it, but they must not violate the rights of others, said the deputy governor.
Cockle farmers, who have invested millions of baht setting up their breeding facilities off the coast, have erected bamboo fences around the areas they illegally claim, with guard towers built on stilts. They keep watch from the towers against any approaches by small-scale inshore fishermen, who claim the public right to harvest the profitable shellfish.
The conflict reached a new high on June 10 when cockle farmer Santi Nuansaen fired a pistol into the air from his jet ski to drive fishermen away from his compound. He was later charged by police with discharging a firearm in public.
May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!