Thai navy seizes mystery oil tanker in Gulf, suspected of smuggling fuel to Cambodia

Just hours after Thailand and Cambodia agreed to a temporary ceasefire, a Royal Thai Navy patrol spotted something unusual in the Gulf of Thailand — a fully loaded oil tanker moving without an identity.

On Saturday, about 50 nautical miles south of Koh Samet, sailors aboard HTMS Prachuap Khiri Khan closed in on the vessel, sensing something was not right.

The seizure unfolded quietly but tensely on the open sea.

According to Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Parach Rattanachaipan, the tanker gave off immediate warning signs. It had no name painted on its hull, no registration number, no national flag fluttering at its stern.

Even more troubling, its automatic identification system — the electronic “beacon” ships use to announce who they are and where they are going — had been switched off.

The navy escorted the tanker back to Chuk Samet pier at Sattahip Naval Base, where inspectors began piecing together the story. Inside, they found fuel oil and a small, undocumented crew: one worker from Myanmar and four from Cambodia, all without proper papers.

Rear Admiral Parach said the vessel’s behaviour and cargo pointed to a possible attempt to smuggle strategic fuel supplies into Cambodia at a time of heightened regional tension — a serious concern for Thai authorities.

The crew and all parties linked to the tanker are now being questioned, with legal action under way.

Thailand once supplied much of Cambodia’s fuel, but that trade came to a halt after recent hostilities erupted between the two neighbors. The interception of the tanker highlights how closely Thai forces are now watching their waters, even as diplomats work to calm a fragile peace.