Four Thai Pirates Arrested for Killing of 7 Seamen and Sinking Ship

The Thai-owned ship, carrying 2.6 million Singapore dollars ($2.1 million) and 5.6 million Malaysian ringgit ($822,000), was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Thailand on Oct. 6.

 

BANGKOK – Four Thai men have been arrested for allegedly killing seven people during a robbery earlier this month of a ship carrying millions of dollars, police said Friday.

The Thai-owned ship, carrying 2.6 million Singapore dollars ($2.1 million) and 5.6 million Malaysian ringgit ($822,000), was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Thailand on Oct. 6. Most of the crew members were killed, said police. Col. Tinnakorn Rangmart.

He said the suspects were arrested Thursday in southern Thailand, after one of them attempted to exchange a large amount of foreign currency.

Tinnakorn said they confessed to killing the seven crew members and taking the money before sinking the ship off the coast of Pattani province. Police were hunting for an eighth crew member suspected of being an accomplice of the pirates, as well as other three suspects still at large.

“We have not been able to find the bodies of the crew members but we believe they are all dead,” Tinnakorn said.

The four arrested men included a 45-year-old former captain who was fired from the company that owned the ship.