Fifty-one Rohingya migrants rescued from being stranded in Satun have admitted they fled from a refugee camp in Bangladesh and Myanmar's Rakhine State in the hope of working in Indonesia.
Ten Rohingya men were rescued after being found floating in waters off the coast of Koh Bulone in Langu district on Tuesday before 41 others were found on the same day left stranded on Koh Gluay in Thung Wa district.
According to a source at the Marine Police Division, each Rohingya migrant paid around 350,000 Bangladeshi taka (about 134,000 baht) for agents to take them to Indonesia.
Investigators found that the first 10 Rohingya escaped from a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) camp in Bangladesh, while the rest took the boat from Rakhine State.
Police were told that during the journey, a storm hit and the 10 men were pushed overboard by some of their compatriots to make the boat lighter and safer to continue the journey.
Meanwhile, a Rohingya woman who travelled with her son on the boat told police that they were told that their journey from Rakhine State to Indonesia would take about a month.
Initially, they received two meals a day before it was reduced to one and then none at all.
After travelling for 18 days, the Myanmar captain and his seven crew then forced 41 of them to jump out of the boat near the island by claiming they were in Indonesian territory, she said.
Meanwhile, Marine police captured eight Myanmar nationals and seized a trawler, after it was seen floating off the coast in Kantang district of Trang on Wednesday.
None of them had any travel documents, so they were held for questioning on suspicion they were involved in human trafficking.
During interrogation, the 62-year-old captain, identified only as Loo Aung Lai, told police that they had picked up 48 Rohingya from Myanmar's Rakhine State and transferred them to another boat that would head to Indonesia.
The captain insisted he didn't leave the Rohingya on any islands.
He said that during their journey back to their country, the boat ran out of fuel and food supplies, and they sought assistance in Trang.
He told police that he was not the owner of the boat and that he was paid 1.5 million Myanmar kyat (around 30,000 baht) for the job by a man named Aung Too.
Police have initially pressed charges against them for illegal entry and staying in the kingdom without permission.