Thailand: Piratical Murders and Rape at Sea

The worst hazards the boat people face are not the elements

With 67 other refugees, Nguyen Phuong Thuy, 15, slipped out of Viet Nam in a 33-ft. boat. The craft was well into the Gulf of Thailand and the presumed zone of safety when it was attacked, not by pursuing Vietnamese but by a vessel carrying eight Thai fishermen. The pirates kidnaped Thuy and another young girl, then sank the refugees' boat with the rest of the Vietnamese still clinging to it. "I can't forget the look on my little sister Tran's face when...