Hundreds Missing After Migrant Boat Sinks off Malaysia–Thailand Border
- Arakan Now
- Nov 9
- 1 min read
Hundreds Missing After Migrant Boat Sinks off Malaysia–Thailand Border
Arakan Now | 9 November 2025
Hundreds were missing on Sunday after a boat sank near the Thailand–Malaysia border, as 10 survivors and one body were recovered, the Malaysian maritime authority said.
More victims might still be found at sea some three days after the sinking of the vessel, which left Buthidaung, Myanmar, with about 300 people on board, according to the South China Morning Post, citing First Admiral Romli Mustafa, the maritime authority director of the northern Malaysian states of Kedah and Perlis.
Among the survivors found in the waters off Langkawi were three Myanmar men, two Rohingya men and one Bangladeshi man, while the body was that of a Rohingya woman, cited by the South China Morning Post from Malaysia’s state media Bernama, which quoted Kedah police chief Adzli Abu Shah.
Members of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority periodically flee Buddhist-majority Myanmar, where they are regarded as foreign interlopers from South Asia who are denied citizenship and face systematic discrimination.
The Malaysia-bound people initially boarded a large vessel but as they neared the border, they were instructed to transfer onto three smaller boats, each carrying about 100 people, to avoid detection by authorities, according to the South China Morning Post. The status of the other two boats remains unknown, and a search-and-rescue operation is ongoing.
