Thai navy tows migrant boat back out to sea

Reuters

KOH LIPE, Thailand (Reuters) - The Thai navy towed a boat full of migrants out to sea towards Indonesia and away from its southern islands in the Andaman Sea, a Reuters witness said on Saturday. The boat was being towed southwest by Thai navy patrol boat number 911, the Reuters witness said. The navy was unable to confirm if the boat was the same one it towed out of Thai waters on Friday. Thousands of migrants are adrift in Southeast Asian waters, abandoned by people smugglers in the Andaman Sea following a Thai crackdown on human trafficking. (Reporting by Aubrey Belford and Kaweewit Kaewjinda; Writing by Simon Webb)