A senior Thai official says the influx of asylum seekers in Southeast Asia has reached an "alarming level" and is calling for governments to address the root causes of the crisis.
Speaking at the opening of a regional meeting aimed at tackling the issue, Foreign Minister Thanasak Patimaprakorn said that "no country can solve this problem alone".
"The influx of irregular migrants in the Indian Ocean has reached an alarming level," Thanasak said in Bangkok on Friday.
"While we are trying to help those in need, we must stop the outflow of irregular migrants and combat transnational crime and destroy their networks."
He also added: "The root causes that motivated these people to leave must also be addressed."
Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been struggling with the waves of desperate migrants, with at least 3000 washed ashore or rescued by fishermen in recent weeks.
Some are Bangladeshis who have left their impoverished homeland in hope of finding jobs.
But many are minority Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
Friday's meeting includes representatives from 17 countries directly and indirectly affected by crisis, including Australia, as well as others such as the United States and Japan.
Thailand launched a crackdown on human trafficking last month, prompting smugglers to abandon their boats and leave thousands of migrants stranded at sea.
Survivors, including women and children, came ashore with first-hand accounts of beatings, ransom kidnappings by traffickers and near-starvation.
Human rights groups have urged those involved in the talks to find a better way of saving those still stranded at sea, and to put pressure on Myanmar to end its repressive policies that drive Rohingya to flee.
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed last week to provide the Rohingya with one-year shelter.
Thailand has offered humanitarian help but not shelter.
More than 100,000 refugees, mostly from Myanmar's other ethnic groups, have been living in border camps for decades, and Thailand says it cannot afford any more.
The UNHCR urged Myanmar to stop the flow of Rohingya to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Addressing the root causes of the exodus "will require full assumption of responsibility by Myanmar to all its people", assistant high commissioner for protection Volker Turk said.
"Granting of citizenship is the ultimate goal," he said in his opening remarks to the Bangkok meeting.
But Myanmar's delegate to the talks rebuked Turk for politicising the migrant crisis.
Myanmar's Foreign Ministry Director-General Htin Lynn said on the issue of illegal migration "you cannot single out my country".
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