Thai authorities can do no wrong: media guideline

The Hmong minorties are preparing to relocate to a new shelter a few kilomater uphill from Ban Huay Nam Khao.

The Third Army Region, which oversees the shelter of more than 7,000 Hmong from Laos, has recently restricted journalists' access to the new site. No reason has been given.

Future reporting on the Lao refugees, said Maj. General Somchai Utama, Phetchabun provincial commander, should exclude any items that could be interpret as incentives for the Hmong migration to Thailand.

A sizeable portion of the Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao is believed to be illegal migrant, not genuine refugee or political asylum seekers.

Moreover, the guideline said "The media must not say anything that could be deemed as an allegation to officials who take care of the camp, according to a military statement circulated to local media."

Instead, the guideline encouraged the media to report on how the influx of Hmong refugees have affected Thai villagers in the area.

It also said the media "shall refrain from reporting officials' bad treatment, if any, to the Hmong."

According to an eyewitness, a recent incident involved the "mistreatment" of a ethnic Hmong of Thai nationality who was accused of "flerting" with a female Hmong from Laos.

The eyewitness said the soldier was upset and slapped and kicked him before the local village headsman intervenes.

 Officials at the camp declined to answer the allegation and instructed The Nation to observe the guideline.

The military also told the media not to report on legal status of the Hmong in the shelter or whatever kind of legal protection they have under the local or international law.

 Many of the 7,000 Hmong in Ban Huay Nam Khao claimed to be relatives of anticommunist guerrilla that was put together by the US Central Intelligence Agency during a secret fighter during the Cold War.

Vientiane fell in 1975, forcing many Hmong into exile and flood into Thailand as refugees.

 Some of them are illegal migration who sought better chance to resettle in the third country while many of them are the Hmong from Saraburi's Wat Thamkrabok left over since they missed the resettlement scheme in the US in the mid 2005. Some might have protection from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' People of Concern.

A small band of lightly armed Hmong, including women and children, continued to be stranded in remote jungle in northern Laos. Some continue to have connection with the Hmong in Ban Huy Nam Khao.

by Supalak G Khundee

The Nation, Phetchabun