At a regional conference aimed at discussing possible solutions to the South East Asia migrant crisis, Thailand has urged South Asian nations to address the root causes that compel people to leave their homeland, hinting at Myanmar and Bangladesh.
While warning that the influx of irregular migrants had reached an alarming level, Thailand's Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn called for an urgent and united response, the BBC reports.
Thailand has agreed to allow U.S. surveillance planes to fly from its territory to locate the boats carrying migrants in the ocean.
The conference, which is still underway, includes member states from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as representatives from the U.S. and the U.N.
The migrants are mostly Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh, fleeing persecution and poverty in their respective homelands or those who have been abducted by traffickers. Thousands of people are believed to be stranded at sea in abandoned boats.