Lao officials to visit Hmong shelters in Phetchabun

The Lao officials led by BrigGen Buaxieng Champaphan, cochairman of the ThaiLao general border subcommittee would tell thousands of Hmong about treatment they would get after repatriation from Thailand.

Buaxieng was in northern Phitsanulok province for a two day meeting of the border committee Wednesday and Thursday with his Thai counterpart Lt. General Nipat Thonglek, head of the Department of Military Border Affairs.

"We want senior people from Laos to tell them the truth how good treatment they would receive when return home," Nipat said in a phone interview.

Thailand's Ban Huay Nam Khao has sheltered some 8,000 Hmong from Laos since 2004. The group claimed they are close associates of CIA secret fighters since the war before the fall of Vientiane in 1975.