Thai military PsyOp campaign targets Hmong

Thai military PsyOp campaign targets Hmong refugees

Hmong refugees living at Huay Nam Khao camp, Petchabun province in northern Thailand have become the victims of what seems to be a Thai military PsyOps campaign geared at coercing them to return to Laos, a clear violation of international law.

The Thai military has so far showed constraint and not resorted to the use of physical force but has instead been using an extreme amount of psychological coercion to get the remaining 4000 Hmong refugees to return to Laos.

Last week, the Thai military erected an additional four separate barriers of concertina razor wire surrounding the entire camp. The erection of this barrier displaced a significant number of residents forcing them out of their homes The targeted group happens to be first on the list for forced repatriation at the end of September.

On July 25, the Thai military allowed and encouraged a group of roughly 200 angry Thai protestors to rally outside the secluded and tightly controlled camp to psychologically coerce the Hmong refugees to return to Laos. The local news media and district officials all showed up at the same time as the protestors remaining for the brief one-hour staged event.

Just days before the actual protest rally, witnesses in nearby Khet Noi village reported seeing Thai soldiers trying to get recruits for the rally by offering them 500 baht and 2 lbs of pork meat as incentives. Even then, Thai-Hmong villagers refused to get involved.

The Thai military and chaperoned local news media reported a very conflicting version of events than what Hmong refugees actually witnessed. The military and news media stated there was a mob of 500 angry Thai-Hmong villagers, but Hmong in the camp claim that only 20-30 of the 200 protestors were actually ethnic Hmong. The vast majority were Thai and possibly relatives of the military stationed there. Some of the Hmong protestors even apologized to the refugees for having participated because they needed the money. Amazingly, two of these Hmong protestors reportedly work inside the camp for the non-government agency C.O.E.E.R. who has a contract distributing food there. One of the two reportedly works for the military in Khet Noi village.

The angry protestors have threatened the Hmong refugees saying that they’ll return to the camp on August 7 for another rally. If the Hmong still refuse to return to Laos then they will return again a third time and order the Thai military to forcibly deport them all. The military has since told the Hmong refugees that the Lao General Bouasieng will also be visiting the camp on August 7 to encourage them to return to Laos.

The Thai military is encouraging those Hmong with legitimate grievances or persecution claims to address them to General Bouasieng during his visit, but then at the same time caution them stating: “Don’t mention anything about your problems in the jungle [Lao military attacks] to him”.

Joe Davy
Hmong Advocate
Chicago

ENDS

© Scoop Media