SATUN - Four crewmen on a small, open patrol boat were thrown into the sea when a vessel suspected of smuggling contraband refused to stop for a search and rammed them off Muang district on Thursday.
The patrol team, in an open outboard-powered army boat, spotted the vessel at Pak Ao canal and signalled it to stop for a search.
The boat instead turned and rammed into the patrol boat, throwing all four crew - soldiers and customs officers - into the water, along with their weapons and mobile phones, Thai media reported on Thursday.
The smugglers sped off and the four crew surfaced with only minor injuries, and managed to get their damaged boat back to the shore.
The weapons were later recovered from the shallow water, but their mobile phones were lost.
Back on shore, the damp crew filed a complaint with Muang police station, asking them to hunt down the fleeing smugglers.
Satun customs chief Somchai Setthawattanakul said on Thursday that since September last year, smuggled cigarettes worth over 10 million baht had been seized.
He admitted it was an uphill task trying to stop the influx of contraband entering the southern province, which shares a border with both Langkawi island and Perlis state in Malaysia.
The Customs Department's manpower was very limited, and he had to seek help from the military and local authorities in tackling smuggling.
Mr Somchai said smugglers had expanded their networks and were now using fishing trawler crews as spotters and informants. This made it hard for authorities to catch them.