Nine Thai soldiers have been detained following a
deadly attack on two cargo ships on the Mekong river near the Thai-Burma
border.
Thirteen Chinese crew members died in the attack,
which happened in early October, in an area notorious for drug production and
smuggling. Their bodies were found floating in the river.
A police spokesman in Thailand said the soldiers
had surrendered on Friday.
The Thai troops were working for an anti-drug task
force.
According to media reports, some of the dead crew
members had been bound and gagged, others had been blindfolded with tape and
some had been shot.
"Police will prosecute all nine
soldiers," National police chief General Priewpan Damapong told reporters,
according to Agence France Presse.
"Their actions have nothing to do with the
Thai army."
The soldiers handed themselves over in Thailand's
northern Chiang Rai province.
China's Vice Minister of Public Security, Zhang Xinfeng,
is currently visiting Thailand to investigate the attack.
He said the arrests represented "important
progress", according to Xinhua.
China also sent patrol boats down the Mekong to
escort 164 stranded Chinese sailors and 28 cargo ships back home.
The "Golden Triangle" - where the
borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet - is a region notorious for drug
smuggling.
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