More than 150 Rohingya stranded on leaking boat off Thai coast, NGO says

BANGKOK (Reuters) - At least 150 ethnic Rohingya are stranded at sea off Thailand after their boat broke down, activists said on Wednesday, adding that several may have died and urging authorities to rescue the survivors.

Each year many Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority, risk their lives boarding rickety vessels to escape oppression and violence in Myanmar and squalor in Bangladesh refugee camps. Many attempt to reach Malaysia.