BANGKOK — Thailand's military leader said the government will not build permanent refugee centers for Rohingyas who have fled ethnic persecution in Myanmar.

"These people entered illegally," said junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, referring to the nearly 300 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh that police have found in the jungles of southern Thailand this week. The groups were abandoned by smugglers who presumably caught wind of the crackdown Thai authorities ordered on human traffickers in the beginning of the month.

"We need a place where we can detain them for legal prosecution, because there's only limited space now," Gen. Prayuth said, but clarified that "this will not be a permanent refugee center for ten or twenty years." 

The junta chairman stressed that setting up refugee centers would place a great financial strain on Thailand.

"We would have to use budget from Thai taxpayers to take care of them, would we not?" he asked reporters.

When a reporter asked whether Thailand could request financial assistance from the United Nations to build refugee centers, Gen. Prayuth replied, "Yes, I can. But will they give me the money? Are you the UN? I can ask them, but will they give it to me? Is it 100 percent [guaranteed]? Can I build the centers first and ask them later? Can you promise me on their behalf? If I cannot get the money, can I ask the money from your office? You act like you are the master of the world."

The crackdown in Thailand, a common pit stop for traffickers seeking to smuggle migrants into Malaysia, has spurred some boat captains to abandon their human cargo at sea. Human rights workers estimate that at least 8,000 migrants are currently stranded off shore, with no country in the region willing to take the desperate passengers in.  

Many of the migrants have been identified as Rohingya Muslims, a persecuted minority from western Myanmar. The others hail from impoverished Bangladesh, where an estimated 300,000 Rohingyas live in refugee camps.

The United Nations' refugee agency estimates that 25,000 people fled Myanmar and Bangladesh on boats in the first quarter of 2015, a number twice as high as the same period last year.

A spokesperson for Thailand's military government said the country's policy is provide food and fuel to ships headed for other countries, but that any migrants who arrive on Thai shores will be prosecuted with illegal entry. 

"We have given the Navy clear policy that if the refugees have an intention to land on the Thai coast, they are welcomed to do so, and we will give them humanitarian assistance, but we will treat them in accordance with laws about illegal entry into the country," said Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd.

Meanwhile, Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia – the two most common destinations for Rohingya refugees – have both pushed away boats of migrants in recent days. 

Thailand has called for an international summit to address the mounting humanitarian crisis on 29 May, but the UN and other human rights agencies say action must be taken sooner, before the Andaman sea becomes a floating cemetery.

"The Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian navies should stop playing a three-way game of human ping pong, and instead should work together to rescue all those on these ill-fated boats," said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s Asia Director. "The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most vulnerable men, women, and children."

Speaking to reporters today, Gen. Prayuth suggested that sensitive issues, such as the state-sanctioned discrimination that has driven tens of thousands of Rohingya to flee Myanmar, may be off the table during the 29 May summit.

"Some things can be said, but some other things should not be said," Gen. Prayuth said obliquely. "Our country has enough problems already. If we affect other people too much, we won't be able to ask for cooperation from them."

He continued, "If we say these things out loud – what about the other countries that keep silent? About human trafficking, Rohingya, fishing. Do they speak about it? They don't speak about it at all. But we keep fanning the issue. In the end, we will be the center of all the evil things in ASEAN." 

BANGKOK — A spokesperson for Thailand's military government said the refugees from Myanmar found by foreign reporters in the Andaman sea today will continue traveling to another country.

The boat, carrying around 300 people who identified themselves as Myanmar refugees, was spotted by reporters from the New York Times and BBC near Lipe island.

The passengers told reporters the captain and crew dismantled the ship’s engine before abandoning them to starve at sea. 

A boat of abandoned refugees from Myanmar found by reporters and naval officers off the coast of Satun province on 14 May 2015. [Photo: Royal Thai Navy]

Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a spokesperson of the Thai military government, said naval officers have provided the group with food and water and are currently repairing their boat.

According to Maj.Gen. Sansern, the refugees told Navy officers they intended to travel to another country, likely to be Malaysia or Indonesia, although the boat's passengers told the New York Times they had already been rejected by Malaysian authorities.

"We have given the Navy clear policy that if the refugees have an intention to land on the Thai coast, they are welcome to do so, and we will give them humanitarian assistance, but we will treat them in accordance with laws about illegal entry into the country," Maj.Gen. Sansern said.

"Once ships from the Third Region Navy inspected the boat and asked about the refugees’ intentions, we discovered that none of them intended to land on the Thai coast." 

He added, "I expect that the engine repair of the refugee boat will be completed tonight. They will be able to continue their journey as they wish." 

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA) — Malaysia has strengthened its sea patrols and begun blocking boats suspected of carrying illegal migrants, a senior official said Thursday, amid an influx of arrivals from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

"Vessels carrying illegal migrants will not be allowed to enter Malaysian waters," the director general of Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Amdan Kurish, told a press briefing.

A traditional Thai style fishing boat which was used by Myanmar Rohingya refugees, stranded in Seunedon village of North Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, 11 May 2015. EPA/STR

The intensified sea patrols, enacted Tuesday, come after more than 1,000 Myanmar Rohingya and Bangladeshi landed in the northern island of Langkawi earlier in the week.

Amdan said there were persistent reports that more vessels carrying Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants were heading for Malaysia.

Maritime officials declined to confirm media reports that two vessels carrying hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants that attempted to land in the northern islands of Penang and Langkawi were turned back to the sea late Wednesday.

But Zafar Ahmad, president of the Myanmar Rohingyas Human Rights Organization in Malaysia, said he got it from reliable sources that two vessels were turned back by Malaysian authorities late Wednesday.

"We do know what happened to those vessels now," he told dpa by telephone.

Malaysia's Foreign Ministry was set to make a statement about the migrant arrivals after talks with "relevant countries, including Myanmar Indonesia and Thailand," according to deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

"This is a matter that is related to the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) and comes under the responsibility of the Myanmar government," the state-run Bernama news agency quoted him as saying.

(Reporting by John Grafilo)

AYUTTHAYA — The relatives of a late lottery seller in Ayutthaya province handed out over 300 lottery tickets at her cremation ceremony yesterday.

The tickets, which cost 30,000 baht in total, were distributed as souvenirs to honor the memory of Uthai Thongchart, who died on 10 May at the age of 57.

Uthai’s 44-year-old daughter, Israphorn Thongthai, said her her mother was a "fortune hunter" who sold lottery tickets in Petchburi province and participated in every bi-monthly draw.

"We did it for my mother, who liked to try her luck," Israphorn said. "And we want our neighbors who are lucky to win some prizes. The cremation for my mother was also held close to the next lottery draw [on 16 May]."

The state-run lottery is hugely popular in Thailand, with enthusiasts constantly on the hunt for supernatural signs that may hint at lucky numbers.

Today crowds of lottery hunters gathered to pray at a bump on a concrete road in Surin province. The worshipers said they believed the 10-inch rise in the concrete was caused by a local spirit, and could contain clues to lucky lottery numbers.

Wallop Ruengphorncharoen, chief officer of Mueang Surin District, said he would like residents to "exercise their wisdom." He also told reporters he has instructed officials to investigate the cause of the concrete bump. 

Lottery tickets currently cost around 120 baht, but Thailand's military government says it is working to lower the price.

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA) — Asian countries topped international achievement tests in mathematics and science, while African countries lagged at the bottom, according to a report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Singapore headed the list of 76 countries included in the survey, followed by Hong Kong, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, according to the report entitled Universal Basic Skills: What Countries Stand to Gain.

At the bottom were Ghana and South Africa while Germany was on the 13th spot behind another Asian country, Vietnam. Australia placed 14th, Britain 20th and the US 28th.

The report aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the quality of learning outcomes around the world, and estimates the long-term economic gains of improving access to education and improving quality.

It will be presented to the World Education Forum in South Korea next week.

"This is the first time we have a truly global scale of the quality of education," OECD's education director, Andreas Schleicher, told British broadcaster BBC.

"The idea is to give more countries, rich and poor, access to comparing themselves against the world's education leaders, to discover their relative strengths and weaknesses, and to see what the long-term economic gains from improved quality in schooling could be for them," he said.

(Reporting by John Grafilo)