Thai fishermen convert boats for human-smuggling

(Reuters) - The smuggling of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar is so lucrative that Thai fishermen are converting their boats to carry humans, police and officials in southern Thailand said.

In recent weeks, thousands of Rohingya, a mostly stateless people, have sailed across the Bay of Bengal to the west coast of Thailand, from where human-smugglers deliver them to neighboring Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country where they can find jobs.

Some boat operators in Ranong province, which has a large fishing industry, were adapting to profit from the exodus, said Sanya Prakobphol, chief of police in Kapoe district.

"The fishing business isn't so good so the fishermen make their boats people-carrying boats," Sanya told Reuters. "Some converted Ranong boats can carry up to 1,000 people."

Boat operators can earn up to 10,000 baht ($300) per person by ferrying illegal migrants from Myanmar to Thailand, he added.

The Royal Thai Navy told Reuters last month that most smuggling and trafficking ships plying the Bay of Bengal were from Thailand. The navy also said it had increased patrols.

According to the Arakan Project, which plots migration across the Bay of Bengal, about 100,000 Rohingya have left Rakhine State since 2012. Violent clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists that year killed hundreds and left 140,000 homeless, most of them Rohingya.

Ranong's provincial capital, which goes by the same name, is a port city just 40 minutes by boat from Myanmar. Migrants have historically formed the backbone of its seafood industry.

Hanif, who uses only one name, said he had helped a fellow Ranong fisherman strip the interior of a boat to hold people.

"He is getting very rich," said Hanif as he sorted shimmering piles of ribbon fish and mackerel. "He wanted to make as much room as possible to carry more in one trip."

Many locals saw nothing wrong with transporting boat people, said Manit Pianthong, chief of Takua Pa district in neighboring Phang Nga province.

"Villagers and fisherman have been living with migrants coming in and out of Thailand for more than 30 years because of our proximity to Myanmar," he said.

"That's why we need to educate them slowly and show them that this is wrong."

Thailand is the world's third-largest exporter of seafood. It is also one of the worst centers for human-trafficking, according to the U.S. State Department, which in June downgraded Thailand to its lowest ranking for "not making significant efforts" to tackle the crime.

(Editing by Andrew R.C. Marshall and Nick Macfie)