Govt says only so much it can do for 92 held in Myanmar

They however admitted the extent of any such aid would be up to the local authorities and would have to wait for the completion of initial legal procedures.
The 92 Thais were each sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Foreign Minister Surapong Towichukchaikul said yesterday that the Thai Embassy had dispatched officials to Koh Song, where the 92 Thais are imprisoned, to monitor the situation.
He said the embassy would contact the Myanmar Foreign Affairs Ministry for information in preparation to provide aid once the case is submitted to the central administration.
The minister said assisting those Thais who were not involved in smuggling drugs or war weapons would be easier. Myanmar President Thein Sein had assured Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra that he would look into this case after initial legal proceedings were complete, Surapong said.
Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat yesterday admitted that the extent of any aid provided by the Thai side would be up to Myanmar, because the 92 Thais had encroached on forestland and some had reportedly used war weapons to fight off Myanmar soldiers and grow narcotic plants.
Relatives of the detainees urged Thai authorities to contact their Myanmar counterparts to seek the return of assets seized from the Thais.
Noy Wongdee, a resident of Ranong’s La Oon district, said many relatives of the 92 Thais accepted that their loved ones would have to serve time behind bars in Myanmar, as ordered by the court.
However, they hoped the two countries’ good relations would encourage Myanmar officials to reduce the punishment. She also urged Thai authorities to contact their Myanmar counterparts to seek the return of 50 seized pieces of equipment including backhoes, tractors, pick-up trucks and motorcycles, as well as some gardening tools, because the families on this side of the border could make use of the assets in farming.
Worried that the Myanmar authorities would destroy the seized vehicles and tools, relatives of the 92 Thais living in Surat Thani, Krabi, Ranong and Chumphon planned to gather to demand Thai authorities help retrieve the items.
The commander of the 25th Infantry Regiment Task Force, Colonel Pornsak Pulsawat, speaking as head of the Township Border Committee in Ranong, said officials would first focus on trying to secure the release and return of the 92, before dealing with the return of the seized equipment.
Pornsak insisted there was still hope for the Thais because President Thein Sein would look into the possibility of pardons for them, adding that he couldn’t confirm a rumour that Myanmar would release the first batch of Thais on August 12.
He said the court verdict so far covered only charges of illegal entry and forestland encroachment; investigation of other charges like those relating to war weapons and drugs was ongoing and no one knew how long that would take.
Thai Army officials from the Rattana Rangsan Camp in Ranong yesterday visited and provided some goods to Kra Buri district resident Da Waothong, whose husband Boonchuay and son Decha were arrested and jailed by Myanmar.
She said Boonchuay and Decha took goods via long-tailed boat to shops in the encroached-upon area in exchange for Bt2,000-Bt3,000 per trip, but were among the 92 Thais arrested on July 4. She said she was very worried about the men, who are the family’s breadwinners, and urged the government to push Myanmar to release them.