DHAKA: More than 200 members of the Rohingya minority fleeing Myanmar have been detained in southern Thailand after their boat ran aground.

Thai district chief Watcharasak Chulayanon said the 219 men aboard swam ashore after their boat got stuck off on Wednesday off the coast of Satun province.

The men told Thai authorities that they left Myanmar in late August wanting to go to Malaysia but rough seas put them off course, reports The Straits Tiimes.

Muslim Rohingyas face discrimination in Buddhist Myanmar, where sectarian violence over the past year left hundreds killed and more than 100,000 displaced from their homes.

BDST: 1622 HRS, SEPT 12, 2013
RoR/RIS