The Rohingya people, a minority who live in poverty, have no home. Many run from repression and exploitation they endure in Bangladesh and Myanmar. As many as 1000 refugees tried to reach Thailand by boat last month, but were put back out to sea.

Many are on their way to look for work in Malaysia, but seldom reach their destination and are often sold to human traffickers. Sometimes brutal methods are used by the Thai navy to force these migrants back out to sea.

Thailand's military official on Friday dismissed a BBC report claiming the Thai military had ill-treated the Rohingyas from Burma and Bangladesh who sought work or asylum by pushing them out to sea and setting them adrift, the website by The Nation newspaper reported on Friday.

"The Royal Thai Navy did not badly treated the Rohingyas. And, there was no setting them adrift as alleged," the website quoted Navy chief Admiral Kamthorn Phumhiran as saying.

Under the military convention, the navy is obligated to rescue enemies from a sunken ship, the Thai Navy chief said, arguing that there is no reason to mistreat the migrants landing on the Thai shore, the website reported.

In the incident in question, the navy was notified by marine park rangers about the Rohingyas at Kon Sai Daeng of Ranong province, Admiral Kamthorn said.

Then, a group of 20 navy men were dispatched to investigate and they found more than 100 Rohingyas, prompting the order for the migrants to lie down for safety reason, he said.