00:04For half a century, Sompong Ersachai has been fishing in the Gulf of Thailand.
00:10The sea is the lifeblood that sustains the fishermen. It gives us a lot. I've been living with the sea
00:17my whole life.
00:19Sompong says these waters have always been kind to him. But today, a man-made crisis is upending his life.
00:28We can't go out to earn money. The fuel is too expensive, and we never know how much seafood we'll
00:34get.
00:35Some days we get a lot, but others we lose money.
00:40Fuel prices have more than doubled here in the last month because of the war in the Middle East.
00:45Sompong hasn't been able to go out for weeks, but he wanted to show us that he's not the only
00:51one.
00:53Boat after boat is stuck on shore.
00:57We came across one man trying his luck.
01:02This fisherman tells us that he's been out here since four o'clock in the morning.
01:06That's five hours already, and he has very little to show for it.
01:10He's going to end up spending more on the fuel to get out here than he'll earn selling his catch
01:15today.
01:17The fuel is so expensive. I can't bear it anymore. I'll have to find a job on land. It's the
01:23only way I can survive.
01:26Across Thailand, tens of thousands of small fishermen are struggling to stay afloat.
01:31The Ministry of Agriculture says it's trying to secure alternatives to diesel.
01:37The government is trying to increase the B20 fuel amount so that fishermen can get access to the cheaper fuel.
01:45B20 is a more affordable mix of diesel and biodiesel like vegetable oil.
01:51But industry experts say a 20 cent saving per litre isn't going to solve the problem.
01:58We've told the government that if they don't help the fishing industry, then when they fail, it will cause a
02:04chain reaction and affect others as well.
02:07That impact is already being felt by hundreds of thousands of migrants who work on these boats.
02:15It's also hitting the local fish markets.
02:19For me, business has gone down by 20 to 30 percent.
02:23I used to sell 100 kilos of seafood. Now it's gone down to 80 kilos.
02:28People have less money to buy.
02:32Many here say they know little about the war in the Middle East or why it started.
02:37What they do know is that they are paying the price.
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