VZCZCXRO4146
OO RUEHCHI
DE RUEHBK #2569 2801023
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 071023Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8544
INFO RUEHVN/AMEMBASSY VIENTIANE PRIORITY 5753
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 7124
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2165

UNCLAS BANGKOK 002569 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, EAP/MLS 
GENEVA FOR RMA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREF PHUM SMIG TH LA
SUBJECT: LAO HMONG IN PETCHABUN: TENSIONS FLARE IN CAMP, 
BUT NO SERIOUS INJURIES REPORTED 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 2042 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 2041 
 
 ¶1. (SBU)  On October 6 at approximately 7:30 pm local 
(Bangkok) time, a small group of Royal Thai Armed Forces 
(RTARF) soldiers in the military-run camp for Lao Hmong in 
Petchabun fired their weapons in the air to disperse a crowd. 
Employees of an NGO in the camp described hearing (but not 
witnessing first-hand) 4-5 minutes of firing, building in 
crescendo from apparent side arms discharging to bursts of 
automatic weapons.  By the end of day on October 7, no 
injured Hmong or soldiers had been brought to the clinic 
overseen by the NGO Catholic Organization for Emergency 
Relief and Refugees (COERR).  COERR employees were able to 
enter the Petchabun camp as usual on the morning of October 
7, and reported that the situation was "calm" with no 
evidence of additional troop movements. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Two versions of the events leading up to the 
shooting incident - the first since the camp was opened in 
July 2007- were offered by the Lao Hmong detainees, and by 
the RTARF.  A Hmong leader in the Petchabun facility told 
RefCoord that the RTARF entered the camp and attempted to 
arrest a 62-year old "ex-CIA fighter" for deportation to 
Laos, and that the soldiers were quickly surrounded by 
outraged neighbors.  Feeling threatened, warning shots were 
fired in the air, and the RTARF departed the camp without the 
intended arrestee or injuries to either side. Senior army 
commanders in Petchabun were not willing to discuss the 
incident with post, but soldiers involved told COERR that a 
routine patrol in the camp had been followed by a group of 
Hmong teenagers. The patrol searched the teenagers' 
belongings, and discovered a knife. An attempt to arrest the 
teenager quickly drew a large crowd, shots fired were over 
the Hmong's heads, and the patrol retreated to the camp 
entrance. The RTARF claimed a scuffle with members of the 
crowd occurred which resulted in minor injuries to two 
soldiers. COERR described the mood of the RTARF as "angry" 
the day after the incident. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Comment.  Tensions are likely to continue to 
increase in the Petchabun camp as RTARF-organized "voluntary" 
returns gradually drain the camp population, and a core group 
of Hmong unwilling to repatriate to Laos becomes exposed. The 
Royal Thai Government (RTG) itself estimated in a January 
2008 accounting that about 800-1,000 Hmong will not want to 
return.  Assuming that none of this group was repatriated in 
the interim, the RTG's conservative guess suggests that about 
one-quarter of the current population of 4,000-plus remaining 
Hmong will resist any effort to move them. 
ENTWISTLE