Australia yesterday agreed to join a multilateral summit hosted by Thailand that aims at tackling the issue of undocumented Rohingyas in the region.

Officials have, meanwhile, rounded up about 60 migrants near Khao Kaew in Songkhla's Rattaphum district, bringing the number of surviving migrants rescued from the mountain to 96 until yesterday.

In another development, Banjong Pongpol, mayor of Padang Besar and alleged mastermind of a human traffic ring, surrendered to police yesterday.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop agreed to the proposal during meetings with Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and deputy premier and Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn.

"I certainly committed Australia to attend. We think [the summit] is a good idea and if Thailand wishes to host it we will certainly be supporting it," Bishop said after the meetings.

Her visit was the first by a top Australian minister since the May 22 coup last year.

Australia expressed "grave concerns" following the coup and "reduced engagement" with the Thai military and lowered its "interaction" with the Thai military leadership.

However, Bishop said last night, "The issue of human trafficking has drawn greater focus as a result of the discovery of the detention camps and graves in Thailand. It's a shocking discovery.

"I acknowledge the efforts of the Thai government to respond in a timely fashion and to announce an investigation that I understand will be very thorough. I was encouraged by the discussion by the deputy prime minister and the prime minister about a regional forum."

Although details and the timing of such a summit have not yet been worked out, Thailand hopes to be able to host the summit this month. Bishop said Thailand and Australia are part of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (Bali Process) founded in 2002.

The Bali Process comprises 45 member countries including Bangladesh, Malaysia, Myanmar and Indonesia. It deals with the issues of people smuggling, asylum seekers and illegal movement of people in the region.

"We recognise a regional response is required. Likewise with human trafficking which has connections with the Bali Process. But this is a particularly vile trade and it has to be disrupted," she said.

"One country cannot do it alone. It has to be something that is done on a regional basis."

On January 26, Thailand and Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in developing regional programmes to combat human trafficking. This involves support to various Thai agencies.

Solving the problem of Rohingya trafficking required not only cooperation from Myanmar and Bangladesh, but also from the countries which are migrants' destinations, Prayut said yesterday.

Malaysia and Australia are among the destination countries for the migrants.

Thailand could not solve the problem alone, the prime minister observed.

Prayut said human trafficking could not operate smoothly without help from "rogue" officials, adding that any officials involved in human trafficking would be punished.

The prime minister also said the foreign ministry would arrange the international summit with the relevant countries and organisations in order to discuss the matter by the end of this month. During the meeting, joint working panels would be set up to find solutions to the problem, he added.

Meanwhile, Padang Besar Mayor Banjong Pongpol, suspected of involvement in a human trafficking ring, turned himself in to police yesterday, Deputy National Police Chief Ake Angsananont said.