35 Hmong caught in Udon
Local police arrested 35 ethnic Hmong here yesterday after they crossed over from Laos.
The arrest was made while the group was en route to northern Phetchabun province's Ban Huay Nam Khao, where some 6,000 Hmong people have taken shelter.
Police intercepted three pick-up trucks that were full of Hmong, including 17 children. The cars were forced to stop at a checkpoint on a by-pass road in Udon Thani following a tip-off that smugglers were moving illegal migrants from Laos. Police arrested four Thai nationals along with a Hmong man alleged to have taken the "illegals" from Nong Khai province, which borders Laos. One of the four - Jer Yang - is a resident of Ban Khek Noi, a village adjacent to Ban Huay Nam Khao in Phetchabun's Khao Kho district. Neng Thong Yang, a 62-year-old Hmong said he and four other families paid the Thai Hmong Bt5,000 per head. Udon Thani's Muang district police chief Pol Col Sithiporn Nonjui said police would not charge them for illegal entry but would deport them back to Laos.
The Nation Udon Thani
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