Thai Navy Seals

Few people traveling along Route 331 from Satthahip to the Isaan Plateau realize this highway was built by the US Military in the 1960s. The Friendship Highway connected the Thai Navy base with several large airfields operated by the US Air Force throughout the Viet-Nam War. Those airfields are now quiet, however Satthahip remains one of the most important naval installations in Southeast Asia and every May the Thai military host Cobra Gold, a large military exercise involving the troops of the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, and various other nations of the Pacific Rim.

While most troops practice amphibious tactics at the main base, smaller groups of high-trained troops congregate on the idyllic archipelago stretching south into the Gulf of Siam for the intensive training regime of the Thai Navy Seals, whose home base of Koh SamaeSan is located across the channel from the isolated fishing port of Ban Samaesarn.

Sensing a need for a similar strategy during the Cold War, Thailand found the Thai Navy Seals in 1953 to provide Thailand with a fast-reaction unit to defend national sovereignty as well as provide the Royal Thai Fleet with naval warfare support such as underwater demolition and coastal reconnaissance. The US Navy Seals supervised the training of these first units and to this day retain a working relationship with their Thai counterparts scouting, and quick-response missions destined to counter the threat of terrorists.

While boaters are allowed to anchor off-shore from these islands for fishing and diving, actually landing on the beaches is prohibited by the Thai Navy, although with the recent opening of the Coral Islands Museum in Ban Samaesarn tourists are guided on special tours arranged by the Thai Navy Seals. I’ve been lucky enough to accompany these guardians of the sea for the filming of an episode of the highly-popular Thai TV show THE NAVIGATOR starring Tik Jasadaporn. We dove in gin-clear waters for two hours and had lunch on the veranda of the Thai Navy Seals barracks on an island paradise.

While many of the Seals come from inland provinces far from the sea, most are happy to have discovered a love for the sea and each man is proud to follow the tradition of King Taksin, who liberate Ayutthaya through an innovative use of smaller water-borne guerrilla fighters to weaken his enemy's lines of supply and every year an undisclosed number of candidates are subjected to a rigorous regime of special naval warfare designed to test the limits of each sailors' physical and mental limits.

Those successful graduates join several elite platoons stationed along the long sea coast of Thailand, where they are further instructed by the special forces of the Australian, German, and the USA special forces, however in recent years the role of the Thai Navy Seal has evolved from a strictly military option into a marine force dedicated to protecting the sea itself.

Sailors are taught about the oceans, the sustainability of fishing stocks, and pollution in accordance with the Thai Navy's greater awareness of the world in which we live. Each Seal is an expert in preservative diving thanks to courses at the Chulaborn Research institute and cooperate with local authorities to help save marine life by clearing garbage from Pattaya Bay or setting up tether floats for diving boats in the Andaman Sea. On Koh Samaesarn the soldiers gather up thousands of plastic bottles from the beaches to help supplement their income and pass on their knowledge to the fishermen trawling the sea to promote the health of the seas.

April 17 celebrates the anniversary of the Thai Navy Seals. Both the nation and the Thai Navy salute this unit for their unceasing devotion to the sea, especially at their marine facilities at Ban Samaesarn.

To reach Ban Samesarn head south from Sukhumbit on Route 3126 past the U-tapao Airfield and turn left at the signs for Ban Samaesarn. The road will lead pass the shore into town where you drive right to the museum entrance.

Entrance 100 baht for Thai Nationals and 200 baht for Westerners.

Boat tours can be arranged at the pier under the town’s temple.

THAI NAVY SEALS

During WWII, Navy troops fighting for both the Axis and Allies used special warfare forces. They were small elite groups of soldiers trained to destroy ships, buildings, and other strategic locations as well as conduct sabotage and other clandestine missions. After the war finished, the special warfare mission continued and through improved training and equipment, increased the ability of the military to fight using new tactics to achieve missions previously unthinkable.

In 1952, the Thai Ministry of Defence started thinking about organizing an Underwater Demolition Teams. Representatives of the Thai Ministry of Defense met with officers from the United States Military Assistance Advisory Group to discuss the possibility of training. Based on the meetings, a resolution was passed directing the Royal Thai Navy to set up training for the unit but unfortunately at the time there were not enough instructors from the United States to make the project happen and so it was temporarily put on hold.

In 1953, Sea Supply, a CIA front company, was tasked with supporting the initial training of the Royal Thai Navy's Underwater Demolition Team and also the Royal Thai Police Aerial Reinforcement Unit. The first group to take part in the UDT/SEAL training included seven Thai Naval Officers and eight members of the Royal Thai Police. This training started on March 4, 1953 on 'Z island (ZULU)'. After 61 days, only 15 of the recruits successfully passed the training.

In 1956 the Royal Thai Navy formed a small combat diver unit, based on the U.S. Navy's Underwater Demolition Teams. In 1965 the unit was reorganized. It was expanded and divided into two separate units, with a U.S. Navy Mobile Training Team providing assistance. The first group was organized into a Sea, Air and Land, or SEAL team. The second group formed a UDT. The SEAL team was assigned intelligence-gathering, and reconnaissance missions.[1]