A leading human rights group on Monday called on the Thai government to investigate allegations that the military has been involved in trafficking migrants to Malaysia.
Police sources have accused army personnel of benefiting from trafficking members of the Rohingya ethnic group from Myanmar or Bangladesh via southern Thailand to Malaysia, according to weekend reports by the Bangkok Post and Phuket One online news.
More than 1,000 Rohingyas, a Muslim minority from Rakhine State in western Myanmar, have arrived in southern Thailand by boat this month, and more are expected in the coming weeks.
Most of them claim to be seeking employment in neighbouring Malaysia. The group suffered persecution from members of the Buddhist majority in Myanmar in 2012.
"The military often helps (them get) on boats into the arms of people traffickers based on Thailand's Andaman coast who charge 50,000 baht (1,680 dollars) to 60,000 baht to smuggle Rohingya across the border into Malaysia," Phuket One reported.
The Bangkok Post quoted a police source as saying, "sometimes they even used military trucks to transport these Rohingya migrants."
Human Rights Watch called on the Thai government to investigate the accusations. Thai government officials did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
"The government seems to be taking these reports seriously, but the question is, if they find out anything will it be brave enough to put the military in the hot seat, exposing those in the military who were involved," said Sunai Phasuk, Thailand representative for Human Rights Watch.
He said the government does not appear to completely control the military over the handling of the Rohingya migrants.
On January 4, the military deported 73 Rohingyas a day after Bangkok said they would be held and assessed for refugee status.
"Bangkok gave us guarantees that these migrants would not be shipped out but they were shipped out anyway on a civilian boat and handed over to another boat of Rohingyas who were heading to Malaysia," Sunai said.
"It shows that Bangkok cannot control the military," he said.
The Rohingyas, who are not recognized as citizens by Myanmar, were the target of communal violence in Rakhine State from June that left more than 100 dead and up to 60,000 displaced.