CNN today produced the 'smoking gun': a photograph showing refugees being towed out to sea by the Thai army.

''Extraordinary photos obtained by CNN from someone directly involved in the Thai operation show refugees on their rickety boats being towed out to sea, cut loose and abandoned,'' the CNN report says.

''One photo shows the Thai army towing a boatload of some 190 refugees far out to sea.''

Here's how Phuketwan revealed the biggest story of 2009 in the region so far, beginning with a series of exclusive reports last year:

Andaman or Auschwitz? Time to Speak Out
Tourists along the Andaman coast have been horrified by what they have seen on their holidays. What does it take to persuade the Thai Government to stop these abuses?
Andaman or Auschwitz? Time to Speak Out

Army 'Admits Funding Round-up of Refugees'
Tourists see boat people mistreated on a Similans beach. A 'secret Andaman exile island' is used as a holding place. Elsewhere, survivors tell of a nightmare with its beginnings in Thailand.
Army 'Admits Funding Round-up of Refugees'

Boat People in Torment: Hell on a Holiday Coast
Rohingya boat people were arrested off the Andaman coast this afternoon amid widening concern about their fate. The Muslim refugees are being kept in secret and sent back to sea.
Boat People in Torment: Hell on a Holiday Coast

Andaman Culture Clash: Tourists and Boat People
Latest The Rohingya imagine a better life beyond the tourist holiday coast to the south and fall into the hands of a branch of the Thai military trained to show no compassion.
Andaman Culture Clash: Tourists and Boat People

Boat People 'Aiming for Phuket, Phang Nga'
Latest The prospect of tourists encountering boat people is increasing on and around Phuket and Phang Nga as questions are being asked about Army brutality against refugees.
Boat People 'Aiming for Phuket, Phang Nga'

Similans Tourists See Boat People Mistreated
Bikinis and brute force Thailand's Similan islands, one of the world's top dive sites, is now also a destination where tourists may see boat people roughly handled by armed military on the beaches.
Similans Tourists See Boat People Mistreated

How the Andaman Links to Amnesty 'Torture'
Photo Album Amnesty accusations of 'torture' have an Andaman connection. The holiday coastline from Phuket northwards is now home to a mix of tourists and boat people, as well as locals.
How the Andaman Links to Amnesty 'Torture'

Phuketwan Voyages to Red Sand Island
Island Album The Rohingya keep coming by boat illegally, but a change in tactics means the Army now claim them and keep them in secret on an Andaman island before letting them go out at sea.
Phuketwan Voyages to Red Sand Island

Exclusive: Secret Rohingya 'Exile Island' Revealed
Photo Album Concern is increasing about the manner in which Rohingya are being secretly turned back to sea off Thailand after first being detained on an Andaman island
Exclusive: Secret Rohingya 'Exile Island' Revealed



Photo Special: Phuket Navy Holds Burmese Muslims
Photo Exclusive The first astonishing photos of hundreds of Burmese Rohingya attempting to enter Thai waters are on Phuketwan now, as chronicled by the Royal Thai Navy.
Photo Special: Phuket Navy Holds Burmese Muslims

'Starving' Boatloads: Phuket Call for UN Action
World Exclusive Hundreds of hungry boat people are being apprehended north of Phuket, prompting a call for United Nations intervention. Phuketwan exposes the Andaman's serious human rights issue, the Rohingya.
'Starving' Boatloads: Phuket Call for UN Action



Exile Island Plan: 200 Burmese in Jail

Crackdown on Burmese as Arrest Numbers Grow

54 Burmese Found Dead in Phuket Bound Container

Deathship Burmese Muslims Forced Back to Border

Andaman Island Sites Readied for Boat People

Burmese Detention Island Cause for Concern

Water and Fire: A Tsunami Reunion