The navy has begun carrying out surveillance on seasteading activities in or near Thai waters saying they are a new form of threat that needs to be closely monitored and dealt with, according to a navy chief.
The Chief of the Third Naval Area Command, Vice Admiral Sittiporn Matkasem, made the comments after an American husband and Thai wife set up a floating living platform 12 nautical miles off the coast of Phuket.
Police at Wichit police station in Phuket are gathering evidence to take further legal action against the couple for allegedly breaching Section 119 of Criminal Code, he said.
The section concerns any acts that cause the country or parts of it to fall under the sovereignty of a foreign state or deteriorate its independence.
Chad Andrew Elwartowski and his wife, Supranee Thepdet, also known as Nadia Summergirl, had been encouraging others to follow suit, said Vice Admiral Sittiporn.
He also dismissed accusations made by the couple through international news agencies that they were being threatened and hunted by Thai soldiers, prompting them to consider seeking asylum in another country.
The Immigration Bureau has, however, begun the process of cancelling the American husband's Thai visa, he said.
Defence Ministry spokesman Kongcheep Tantravanich said Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwon had instructed the navy and all other security agencies concerned to look into Ocean Builders, the company that constructed the seastead occupied by the couple.
The company was found during in an inspection to have installed certain undersea infrastructure and had a plan to build more than 20 new seasteading structures, said Lt Gen Kongcheep. It didn't make clear what was built under the sea.
Ocean Builders, meanwhile, on Monday said "the April 15th sale of seasteads is to be postponed until we can get everything straightened out and figure out the best path forward for everyone".
It also said the couple were "volunteers excited about the prospect of living free" and had spent a few weeks on the seastead documenting their adventure.
The couple are safe now, the company said, adding that the position of its seastead is actually 13 nautical miles from Thailand, outside of the country's territorial waters.
The two were in no way involved in the design, construction, decision on where it was located or in any funding for the construction of the seastead, according to the company.
