'Don't believe what the world says about Rohingya'

Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Wednesday that people should not believe international news reports about the Rohingya boat people being treated inhumanely in Thailand.

International news agencies have reported that a group of 198 boat people, rescued in Indonesia on Monday, had been towed out to sea by the Thai military three weeks ago. Twenty-two had died during the crossing, the survivors told Indonesian officials.

Kasit played down the report saying he would only listen to official reports from Indonesian authorities.

The plight of the Rohingya people was highlighted as the Thai navy was accused of abandoning nearly 1,000 of them in the high seas in December. Some were rescued by the Indian coast guard and some by Indonesian fishermen who discovered the 12metre boat off Aceh's coast in northern Sumatra and towed it to shore on Monday.

The Nation