The Associated Press highlights the debate revolving around American actress Angelina Jolie’s comments on the Rohingya “boat people.” It reports Thai officials rebuked her for calling on Thailand to respect the rights of the Rohingya.

Nonetheless, the AP tones down the controversial statement from the actress, who is also a United Nations goodwill ambassador:

“Jolie … did not directly criticize Thailand's actions. Her offending comment merely expressed hope through a U.N. statement that authorities would respect the rights of Rohingya and all refugees.”

A Bangkok Post columnist offers a look at the foreign media coverage from a local perspective. Although not entirely agreeing with how the story was portrayed, she says the exposure did give Thailand some issues to ponder.

"Honestly, I am a bit annoyed by the way the news was played up in the foreign media, which often plays on sensationalism and moral superiority, feeding on bigotry. But there is not much we can do about that.

What we can do, however, is to look at our own bigotry, confront the problem and ask ourselves why we allow ourselves to be blind to such atrocities. For this was most certainly not the first time that the Rohingya boat people were pushed back to face death at sea. And it would not be the last had it not been exposed by the foreign press, which we must be thankful for."

Thailand’s The Nation focuses on the international cooperation that might occur out of the incident. The paper said the Thai and Indonesian foreign ministers met in Jakarta and planned to hold a meeting in Bali either in late March or early April.

The Nation reported the Indonesian foreign minister saying:

“[T]he meeting should also include nations where the problems with the Rohingya people originated, as well as the countries that they stopped at or were destined for.”

CNN brought us a report from Indonesia, where nearly 200 Rohingya refugees came ashore last week.

“A large number of them have been taken to the hospital, more than 60 suffering from severe dehydration. They’ve told the authorities they’d been at sea for more than three weeks, and crucially they also claimed that they were towed out and cast adrift by the Thai military.”