A team of lawyers representing key human-trafficking suspect Thai army officer Lt-General Manas Khongpaen is planning to make a legal request asking that he be prosecuted and tried in a military court, citing an early junta rule that they say enables such an option.

The lawyers are also planning to submit a request for a temporary release of Manas, an Army special adviser who has been detained at Na Thawi prison in Songkhla province.

Manas was handed over to the Na Thawi court in the southern province after his surrender on Wednesday to police, who are prosecuting him as a civilian on 13 offences related to trafficking of Rohingya and other migrants.