Thailand joins Malacca Straits Patrols

At a ceremony in Bangkok, the defence chief of Thailand signed the revised Standard Operating Procedures and Terms of Reference for the Malacca Straits Patrols (MSP) Joint Coordinating Committee, thus formalising his country’s participation with Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. With this, Thailand has become the fourth country to join in the patrol in the Straits of Malacca, according to the Singapore Defence Ministry.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have been working together to enhance maritime security in the Straits of Malacca and the Straits of Singapore since the launch of the Malacca Straits Sea Patrols in July 2004. They subsequently began combined maritime air patrols and an exchange of intelligence.

One-third of the world’s trade and half of the world’s oil supply are carried through the Straits by about 90,000 vessels each year, officials have said.

The Straits were prone to pirate attacks in the 1990s but the joint action introduced in recent years reduced piracy to zero last year, Malaysia’s deputy air force chief, Bashir abu Bakar, was quoted as saying in April.