VZCZCXRO2375
PP RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHCHI #0131/01 2061855
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251855Z JUL 07
FM AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0528
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0752
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 0577
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0059

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CHIANG MAI 000131 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PHUM PREF SNAR TH
SUBJECT: FROM POPPIES TO PEACHES:  HMONG PROGRESS REMAINS MIXED 
 
REF: A. A) CHIANG MAI 107 
 
     ¶B. B) VIENTIANE 416 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000131  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. Summary.   Despite generally low economic status, land tenure 
issues, and a renewed refugee inflow from Laos, the Hmong hill 
people today are considered among the more successful hill tribe 
groups in Thailand.  Best known for fighting beside US forces in 
Laos from the 1960s to1975 while a significant number of others 
joined the Communist Party of Thailand insurgency, this group 
has benefited both from agricultural development projects and 
from the support of a large Hmong population in the US.  At the 
same time, however, some Thai-Hmong are suspected of involvement 
in cross-border activities in Laos, and the ethnic group itself 
remains on top of the official drug trafficking watch list.  Our 
Thai-Hmong contacts disavow any connection with the alleged plot 
that led to the "Tarnished Eagle" June 4 arrests in the US (ref 
a).  End summary 
¶2. The Hmong people's history and continued connections with the 
US and Laos give them a significance beyond their relatively 
small numbers in Thailand -- estimated at just under 200,000. 
Hmong anthropologist and Chiang Mai University professor Dr. 
Prasit Leepreecha (Hmong name Tsav Txhiaj Lis) compared the 
Hmong situation in northern Thailand during the 1960s to the 
circumstances in Thailand's south today, where government 
suspicion of an ethnic group fuels the opposition.  (Dr. Prasit 
stopped short of suggesting that today's improved position of 
the Hmong offers a solution for the south.  While the Thai Hmong 
who joined the Communist insurgency had little interest in the 
ideology of the party and therefore easily accepted the 
government's amnesty in the early 1980s, the southern 
insurgency, he believes, has deeper roots.) 
--- Cashing in on Fruits and Flowers --- 
¶3. A Hmong leader eager to showcase his communitQs adaptation 
to changing social, economic and environmental conditions in 
northern Thailand provided Consulate staff with a tableau of the 
new livelihood that has replaced the opium economy of Golden 
Triangle infamy.  Por Luang Koed, whose village is located in 
Chiang Mai's Doi Inthanon National Park, invited the Consul 
General and others to visit in late April - timed for ripe 
peaches.   With continued political debate over forest 
management and the right of forest dwellers to remain in 
protected areas, Por Luang wanted to show how he and his Hmong 
neighbors protect the environment and cooperate with the Royal 
Project Foundation to produce and develop new cash crops in 
fruits and cut flowers. 
 
¶4. Recent Hmong history has been more linked to guns and drugs 
than peaches and roses.  As a result of their role in US 
engagement in Laos from the early 1960s to 1975, nearly 200,000 
fled to Thailand as refugees.  Approximately 90 percent of the 
refugees were eventually resettled in the US, where an estimated 
200,000 now live.  Several million more live in the greater 
Mekong region, primarily in southern China, with 160,000-180,000 
in Thailand.  Within this community are many different groups, 
including Hmong who fought for the U.S. in Laos and crossed to 
Thailand, Hmong in Laos who did not side with the U.S., Hmong 
who have long lived in Thailand and joined the communist 
insurgency against the RTG, and Hmong who have long lived in 
Thailand but did not join the insurgency.  During the past few 
years, some 8,000 Lao-Hmong have entered Thailand's Petchaboon 
province, re-opening a refugee chapter that had been considered 
over by 2004-2005 as resettlement came to an end at the Wat Tham 
Krabok refugee camp. 
 
¶5. Both Por Luang Koed and Dr. Prasit dismissed the current 
Petchaboon group as economic migrants, claiming that many had 
left their homes in Laos after being told by relatives in the US 
that they would be resettled there (ref b).   Dr. Prasit agreed 
that some Hmong in Thailand and the US are making money off 
encouraging the flow into Thailand, but insisted that the 
long-settled Thai-Hmong here are not involved. 
 
--- Hmong Come Calling --- 
 
¶6. Thanks to the large Hmong population in the US and in the 
northern Thai region, Consulate Chiang Mai handles a sizeable 
number of Hmong visa applicants.  Organizations in the US such 
as the Lao Family Community in California, Wisconsin and 
Minnesota, Hmong Wisconsin Radio, United Hmong International, 
and the Hmong International New Year visit the Consulate and fax 
support for visa applicants.  One of the individuals arrested in 
June, Youa True Vang, also known as Joseph Youa Vang, has been 
listed as a sponsor or trip coordinator by some of our visa 
applicants. 
 
¶7.  The Consulate is also in touch with other US-based 
organizations about AmCit concerns, human rights, and similar 
non-visa issues.  These include the Center for Hmong Studies at 
Concordia University, Lao Human Rights Council, Lao Veterans of 
America, Hmong National Development, and Hmong Wisconsin Radio. 
 In addition, we have briefed US study abroad groups that 
include Hmong students, including St. Olaf College and 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000131  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. 
 
¶8.   The US-based Hmong groups pursue contacts with government 
officials as well. Chiang Rai Gov. Amorapun Nimanandh consulted 
earlier this year with the CG about a letter of invitation he 
had received to the Hmong New Year in Fresno, California; after 
the arrest of Gen. Vang Pao in June, Gov. Amorapun notified the 
Consulate that he had cancelled a planned trip to a Hmong 
celebration in Minnesota. 
 
--- Communism to Crops --- 
 
¶9.  Hmong Thailand Network chair Por Luang Koed, who showed off 
his peach crop and peaceful village to Consulate staff last 
April, is recognized by staff of the Royal Project and the 
Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) for his contribution to 
various RTG counter-narcotics-related programs.  A former 
Communist Party of Thailand (CPT) mid-level commander in the 
1970-1980s insurgency who mobilized popular support from Hmong 
communities in the Chiang Rai-Phayao-Nan area, Por Luang Koed 
joined other insurgents in accepting amnesty from the Thai 
government in the early 1980s. 
 
¶10. With different government agencies pursuing competing 
interests in areas declared "natural habitat," Por Luang's 
community has plenty of motivation to demonstrate its wise land 
management and good citizenship.   A much-debated Community 
Forest bill that would protect indigenous forest dwellers from 
being resettled elsewhere has made little progress since the 
coup.  Although agricultural burning by hill tribes was cited, 
accurately or not, as one of the causes of the heavy haze that 
settled over northern Thailand in March, Por Luang said his 
village no longer practices traditional slash-and-burn farming. 
 
 
--- Role of the Royal Projects --- 
¶11.  Por Luang ties improvements in the Hmong community to the 
Royal Project Foundation, set up by the King over three decades 
ago to encourage hill people to switch from opium poppies to new 
cash crops.   The Doi Inthanon Royal Project near Por Luang's 
village concentrates on temperate fruits and cut flowers, 
including strawberries, plums, peaches, roses, chrysanthemums, 
dahlias and fuchsia.  Plant tissues are purchased from 
commercial dealers in places such as the Netherlands and Hawaii; 
the Royal Project cultivates the tissue and sells it to 
hilltribe farmers who willing to try new crops.   Farmers are 
encouraged to use ecologically friendly farming methods and as 
few pesticides as possible; Por Luang insisted that his peaches 
and plums are chemical free. 
¶12.  The Royal Project Foundation runs research stations and 36 
development centers which cover 444 villages comprising 24,043 
households with a total population of approximately 100,000 
people.    Por Luang sells his crops to the Royal Project, which 
in turns cools, packs, and markets the produce in Bangkok and 
Chiang Mai under the Doi Kham brand name.  The products have a 
niche market in Thailand; a Royal Project official said little 
is exported but that success can be measured by a reduction of 
imports. 
¶13.   Many problems remain, including issues of land tenure in 
protected areas, cultural identity and continued identification 
with the drug trade.   A senior ONCB official in Chiang Mai 
portrayed the Hmong as interested only in wealth, at the price 
of social values; he noted that Hmong remain on the top of 
ONCB's watch list of hill tribe groups involved in drug 
trafficking.  A contact from the National Intelligence Agency 
(NIA) reported that counterparts from ONCB, the Police Narcotics 
Suppression Bureau (NSB) and Provincial Police Region 5 have 
seen a recent upward trend in methamphetamine "yaba" and "ice" 
cases involving Hmong. 
---- Making it in Thai Society --- 
¶14.  Over all, however, living conditions and acceptance in Thai 
society are much improved from earlier decades.  The Hmong are 
considered more willing than some other hill groups to integrate 
with the local majority when given the chance - Por Luang's 
granddaughter speaks Hmong at home but attends a Thai school in 
the district town of Chom Thong.   Dr Chupinit Ketmanee, chair 
of the Inter-Mountain Peoples' Education and Culture Thailand 
(IMPECT) Association, ranked the Hmong ahead of other tribal 
groups in many respects, especially in accessing education and 
in economic and social-legal status.  Over 90% are now 
registered as Thai citizens, he claimed, a percentage backed up 
by a recent UNESCO survey of hill tribe citizenship that looked 
at the influence of legal status and ethnicity on access to 
education, health care and other social services in border 
areas. 
¶15.  Comment:   While most stories about the Hmong still tend to 
focus on refugees, drugs, or border clashes, Consulate Chiang 
Mai sees a somewhat more positive if still mixed picture. After 
over 30 years of efforts by numerous organizations to introduce 
new crops to replace poppy cultivation, the Royal Project has 
been able to provide a degree of land security and income from 
 
CHIANG MAI 00000131  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
crops previously unknown in the region.    In the meantime Hmong 
resettled to the US over the past three decades have started to 
explore returning as retirees and to send their children as 
exchange students.  For those who live in Thailand, the high 
percentage of citizenship both indicates and contributes to the 
community's stability. Although this rosy view is clouded by Lao 
border issues and continued connections with the drug trade, it 
indicates a marked improvement over negative images from earlier 
decades. 
CAMP