PHUKET: Rescuers who raided a secret camp in the jungle of southern Thailand at the weekend were forced to leave behind five men they could not carry.

Four adults and six children were able to flee the camp in the company of the raiders while hundreds of other captives fled into the scrub during the chaos before the raid.

Because the human traffickers are usually armed and capable of bringing in reinforcements, the raiders were forced to leave the five men behind.

They feared the traffickers, who fled with their captives, would return.

The three men who went with the raiders were carried out on poles and hammock-style slings.

It's hoped that the adults will be able to give evidence against the traffickers, who at this camp have been accused of perpetrating many rapes, including one captured in a horrific and graphic video.

The woman who escaped on Saturday night told rescuers the victim in the rape video had bee raped ''many times'' and had since been sold as a wife.

The photographs above were taken inside the jungle camp by the raiders.

Awareness of Thailand's role in being a conduit for the trafficking of boatpeople from Burma and Bangladesh grows with each incident.

Although most of the boatpeople are Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Burma's Rakhine state, more recent arrivals have included Bangladeshis who were either kidnapped or enticed then coerced into seeking jobs in other parts of the country and found themselves on boats sailing south.

Overnight, a group of 17 boatpeople was involved in a crash in the southern province of Surat Thani.

It's believed they were belng trafficked. The group is being held at Thachang Police Station while authorities decide what to do with the men.