A boat carrying about 300 Rohingya Muslims that was stranded off the coast of Thailand for a week has been moved away by Thai officials.
The BBC's Jonathan Head, who went to the boat on Thursday, says families of those on board have been told uniformed men with guns boarded it overnight.
They repaired the broken engine, gave them food and moved the boat south.
Thai officials said the migrants did not want to go to shore but wanted to continue to Malaysia.
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been turning away migrant boats.
'Not a push back'
The heavily packed boat was abandoned by people smugglers who also disabled the engine. The migrants, including women and babies, had told our correspondent they had no food or water and that 10 people had died.
"We fixed the engine and the boat left last night after 03:00," provincial governor Dejrat Limsiri told AFP news agency.
"We gave them ready-to-eat meals. They are now out of Thailand territory... They will try to go to Indonesia as it seems they cannot get to Malaysia," he said.
Lt Comm Veerapong Nakprasit of the Thai navy said those on board "did not want to come to Thailand so we gave them food, medicine, fuel and water".
"We did our humanitarian duty. They wanted to go to a third country," he told Reuters. "This is not a push back because these people wanted to go."
'Desperate sight'
Many Rohingya Muslims leave Myanmar, also known as Burma, because they are not recognised as citizens of the country and face persecution.
Earlier this week thousands of migrants started landing on the shores of Malaysia and Indonesia after being abandoned by people smugglers afraid of a crackdown by authorities in Thailand, the usual route used by the migrants.
It is unclear how many boats full of people are adrift at sea, but rights group say thousands of migrants are likely stranded and are not being allowed to land.
Our correspondent, who found the boat off the southern coast of Thailand near Koh Lipe, said it was a "desperate sight" as people on board cried out for food and water.
Some of those who are adrift in the Andaman Sea have been provided with food, water and medicine by the Thai navy.
Who are the Rohingyas?
- Rohingyas are a distinct, Muslim ethnic group mainly living in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma
- Thought to be descended from Muslim traders who settled there more than 1,000 years ago
- Also live in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
- In Myanmar, they are regularly persecuted - subjected to forced labour, have no land rights, and are heavily restricted
- In Bangladesh many are also desperately poor, with no documents or job prospects
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