Thailand calls for meeting with Myanmar, Malaysia over human trafficking crisis

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Friday called for a three-way meeting with neighbours Malaysia and Myanmar to try to resolve a regional human trafficking crisis following the discovery of a mass grave in the country's far south, according to media reports.

Chan-o-cha told reporters in Bangkok that he instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to communicate with neighbors Malaysia and Myanmar for holding a meeting to resolve the matter, expressing his belief that the meeting could be held by the end of the month.

Police General Aek Angsananont, deputy commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, said, so far, eight people have been arrested - seven Thais and a Myanmar national - suspected of having links to human trafficking networks.

A "top figure" in a regional trafficking network had been arrested, police added, without providing details.