The group complained that they have been beaten and that their sons have been missing or detained since 2005, Malaysia's Sunday Star newspaper said.

They arrived in Rantau Panjang village in Malaysia on Saturday through an illegal crossing.

A 55-year-old spokesman for the group of new arrivals said a bomb attack on a mosque in his village had made it difficult for Muslims to pray.

"Last week after the bomb blast, which injured scores of my neighbours, Thai soldiers came and simply arrested the local youths," he said.

He said that since the arrest, many youths were missing and some died after they were allegedly poisoned during detention.

The group said they were not seeking political asylum in Malaysia, but wanted Malaysia to help stop the bloody violence that has claimed at least 2,000 lives in the three Muslim-majority provinces in southern Thailand since January 2004.

An informed source said that the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs was investigating the report and, if it is confirmed, it would try to assist the group.

The latest incident follows the flight of 131 Muslims from southern Thailand in 2005. They are being held in a Malaysian immigration depot. Last December, a second group of 20 Thai Muslims entered the country.