Thailand asks PCG to find human traffickers' ship

MANILA, Philippines - The Royal Thai Navy has asked the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to help locate the M/V Sun Sea, a cargo ship previously known as Harin Panich 19, which is supposedly used in human trafficking.  

“We received an e-mail from the Thai Navy last Wednesday, but we no longer inquired why they made such a request and would just help out a fellow Asian country,” said PCG spokesman Lieutenant Commander Arman Balilo.

The vessel was last spotted off Thai waters at latitude seven degrees 19 minutes north, longitude 100 degrees 58 minutes east on May 17.

The PCG has alerted all sea vessels passing the area to be on the lookout for the vessel.

Balilo said their initial check showed there was no record of the vessel docking at Philippine ports.

Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan also said there had been no reports of an “extraordinary number of Thai nationals” entering the country legally or illegally.