The land/sea exercise was announced on Thursday (May 30), when Phuket Governor Sophon Suwannarat chaired a meeting to “integrate the forces of all relevant agencies in preparation for the field training.”
Joining Gov Sophon were Capt Krit Kluemmat, Deputy Commander of the Phuket Thai-MECC Branch (Thai-MECC 3), and Mr Sopon Thongsai, Head of the Phuket Provincial Office of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department (DDPM Phuket), along with representatives of other related government agencies.
As publicly announced after the meeting, the training will focus on the prevention of smuggling of weapons of mass destruction and rescuing victims of disasters at sea.
There will be a small exercise on June 7, then another exercise on June 9, and the main on June 10. The headquarters for the training operation will be set up at Phuket Deep Sea Port, close to the Royal Thai Navy 3rd Area Command on Cape Panwa.
Acting in the sea off Phuket’s east coast (from 10am on June 10) will be several Royal Thai Navy ships led by HTMS Saiburi. The Chao Phraya-class frigate will be accompanied by smaller crafts from Thai-MECC, Marine Police, Phuket Customs Office.
Also in action will be several helicopters from the Royal Thai Navy and relevant agencies. Acting as the target – "a fictitious cargo ship" – will be HTMS Panyi. Teams on shore will include personnel from Phuket rescue services as well as the DDPM.
No navigation warning has been issued for Phuket-based operators of passenger and commercial vessels such as tour speedboats, yachts, ferries, or fishing trawlers. It