THE COMMANDER of Royal Thai Navy 3, Vice Admiral Saiyan Prasongsamret, confirmed tonight that a boat containing about 100 people had landed on Surin island. As the boat had now been apprehended in Thai waters, the people would be brought to the mainland so an assessment could be made of whether they were illegal migrants or human trafficking victims, he said.


PHUKET: About 60 boatpeople have been apprehended tonight on a small vessel at Surin island, north of Phuket, Phuketwan has been told by usually reliable sources.

Official confirmation of the arrival of a small boat on Thailand's Andaman tourist coast has yet to be obtained but the Governor of Phang Nga, Prayoon Rattanaseri, said: ''We have heard the reports and we are checking the facts.''

Many small boats capable of carrying 60 or 80 people arrived on the Andaman coast for years from 2008 until 2013 and were quickly absorbed into the Thai trafficking system.

From then on, larger specially modified trafficking trawlers began carrying Rohingya and Bangladeshis south towards Malaysia, sailing further away from the coast of Thailand.

There is no reason why people desperate to escape oppression in Bangladesh and Burma wouldn't flee in the old-fashioned manner, thus creating another problem for Thai authorities who are already trying to deflect international attention.