Thai PM pledges to work with UN on migrant abuse charges

Bangkok: Thailand's prime minister says international agencies are welcome to talk to authorities about alleged abuse of illegal migrants.

But Abhisit Vejjajiva stopped short of saying that international agencies could meet detained migrants.

Abhisit's Wednesday comment came a day after the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees requested access to 126 migrants reportedly in Thai custody.

Abhisit spoke in the wake of allegations that Thai security officials forced as many 1,000 ethnic Rohingya migrants back out to sea in rickety boats since early December.

The Thai navy is accused of forcing several hundred of the migrants onto a barge in the middle of the ocean, where as many as 300 later drowned.