Thai authorities on Saturday arrested 53 Rohingya migrants and two suspected Thai traffickers en route to neighboring Malaysia, an official said.

The migrants were found on a rubber plantation in Takua Pa district in the southern coastal province of Phang Nga, district chief Manit Phianthong told Agence France Presse.

Myanmar's president has asked Thailand's visiting premier to ensure a "clean and fair" investigation for a pair of Myanmar nationals charged with murdering two British tourists, an official said Friday.

The comments came after reports the accused were tortured into confessing -- an allegation Thailand has strongly denied.

Rescuers were Wednesday searching for an injured helicopter pilot in remote northern Myanmar after finding two other missing crew members alive, officials said, clarifying initial reports that all were found safe.

Myanmar began releasing more than 3,000 prisoners, including former military intelligence figures, on "humanitarian" grounds, officials said Tuesday, in the latest large-scale amnesty in the once pariah nation.

The reformist regime, which is in the process of preparing to host a landmark November meeting of international and regional leaders, has granted a series of amnesties as part of dramatic reforms since the end of outright military rule in 2011.

Myanmar's plans to force stateless Rohingya to be identified as "Bengali" -- a term seen as disparaging -- for citizenship will leave those who refuse facing "indefinite detention" or deportation, Human Rights Watch has warned.

The Rakhine Action Plan was touted by Myanmar's foreign minister as a major part of efforts to bring "harmony" to the conflict-torn western state in comments to the United Nations this week.

Thai police Friday charged two Myanmar men with murder and rape after the killing of two British tourists on a southern island last month, in a case that has severely dented the kingdom's image as a holiday haven.

The charges come after police said the undocumented migrant workers had confessed to murdering David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose battered bodies were found on Koh Tao on September 15.

A popular Myanmar news website was blocked by hackers angry at its description of hardline Buddhist monks as "radical", a message on the site said Thursday, accusing the publication of defending Muslims.

Myanmar authorities have seized more than 200 kilograms (440 lbs) of heroin on their side of the infamous "Golden Triangle", arresting three men armed with guns and a grenade launcher, police said Wednesday.

The haul, worth around $20 million, was made on Tuesday afternoon in a town in eastern Shan State bordering Thailand as a part of a wider crackdown on drug trafficking across the country.

Bangladesh police said Monday they have arrested a British citizen suspected of entering the country to recruit militants for jihadist groups overseas such as the Islamic State organization.

Officers said Samiun Rahman, a 24-year-old Londoner of Bangladeshi origin, was picked up from a railway station in the capital around midnight on Sunday.

A controversial Buddhist cleric from Myanmar announced Sunday he is linking up with hardline monks in Sri Lanka, alleging that their religion is under threat from Islamic jihadists.

The Mandalay-based monk Wirathu, addressing a convention in Colombo of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) or Buddhist Force, said they would work together to protect their common religion.