In Thailand, 72 people, including a senior army officer, are indicted over a number of charges including human trafficking.

On Thursday, the Office of the Attorney General of Thailand (OAG) issued a court order to indict 72 people charged on 16 counts including human trafficking, involvement in international crimes, transporting illegal migrants, and malfeasance.

"We will not let influential people rise above justice," the OAG’s spokesman Wanchai Roujanavong said.

Lieutenant General Manas Kongpan is among those charged. Authorities say he is charged with being a major smuggling kingpin in the trade.

The news on Friday comes as a major people-smuggling trade involving migrants in Myanmar and Bangladesh has been unraveled by authorities in the Southeast Asia region.

Thai authorities dug up the remains of Myanmarese migrants from a number of graves at an abandoned human-trafficking camp in the country’s southern Songkhla Province, in May.

The discovery of 139 graves in neighboring Malaysia also led to a crackdown on human traffickers.

"AOG has given priority to the issue -- as it is a big group of people involving international systems -- it caused a lot of damage to the country as there were dead bodies found," Wanchai said.

Sources said the indictments will be processed later in the day at a court in Songkhla.

In recent months, thousands of persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants have been stranded in boats in Southeast Asian waters, waiting to be rescued and taken to neighboring countries including Malaysia and Indonesia.