Re: South Seas Piracy

From: <DAWGFACE47@webtv.net>

> The same channel also had another special  about treasure hunters  who
> were blatantly ripped off by the local Thai Navy and Maritime Police
> after they located and salvaged the treasure.

In this case, my sympathy's with the Thais. It was in the EEZ, the
location was known, they were warned before, and during the salvage ops
that the site was of archeological significance and was the property of
the Kingdom of Thailand.
Under the same circumstances BTW the US Govt would have seized both
artifacts and ship, and fined them heavily.

The Thais just made lots of noises, as if they were just bluffing, then
after the artifacts had been collected, moved in and got the lot without
having to pay a single baht. They were pissed off too.

Now had the salvage firm negotiated, and gotten permission, they might
have gotten some of the historically significant bits, and also a nice
salvage fee. Instead they treated the Thais like peons. Most navies in
the world you could get away with this. The RTN is a conspicuous
exception,
they're up to NATO standards of professionalism.

OTOH Thai fisherman are some of the most rapacious pirates in the world.
Or were at one time.