"It is international organisations which have to talk with Myanmar, rather than put pressure on Thailand to shoulder the sole responsibility of looking after migrants," said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, , responding to a report that Myanmar may snub the regional meeting to be held in Bangkok on May 29 to address the "root causes" of the flow of migrants.
Gen Prayut said it is up to Myanmar to decide whether they attend the meeting.
"We cannot force any country to attend. Every country is equal in dignity. Thailand is only in the middle of the [migrants'] route. We only hope to bring peace to the region," he said.
Asked about the consequences for the meeting if Myanmar refuses to attend, Gen Prayut said the problem lies with how Myanmar recognises the status of the Rohingya people.
Hundreds of boat people have arrived on Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian soil since May 1, after the discovery of graves believed to belong to Bangladeshi and Rohingya migrants in Padang Besar in Sadao district of Songkhla prompted a crackdown on trafficking and forced smugglers to abandon their cargo.
The one-day meeting in Bangkok is scheduled to be attended by senior officials from 15 countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Australia and the United States as well as international agencies.
But Myanmar, which refuses to recognise the Rohingya as one of its ethnic groups, accused Thailand yesterday of using the regional summit to divert attention from its own problems with people smuggling.
"We are unlikely to attend ... we do not accept it if they [Thailand] are inviting us just to ease the pressure they are facing," presidential office director Zaw Htay said.
"The root cause [of the crisis] is increasing human trafficking. The problem of the migrant graves is not a Myanmar problem. It's because of the weakness of human-trafficking prevention and the rule of law in Thailand," he added.
Gen Prayut said he has instructed security agencies to find areas that could be used as holding centres for migrants awaiting repatriation, and stressed that the shelters would only be temporary.
He said Thailand is ready to provide migrants with humanitarian assistance.
"However, international organisations must find out where the migrants come from and what hardships they face, and why they have to migrate. If they are poor, should this be fixed?," Gen Prayut said.
Gen Prayut said the country of origin of Rohingya migrants must address this problem, adding that the May 29 meeting will try to find solutions to the problem.