Chiang Kham some history - refugees

[DavidFL]

In the mid-late 70s as the communists gained control of Laos, thousands of people on the anti-communist side were forced to flee Laos for their safety.
Refugee camps sprung up along the Thai- Lao border, then when the Khmer Rouge overthrew the Cambodian government another massive flood of refugees & camps came for years.
The main Lao refugee camps were
Ban Vinai out of Pak Chom in Loei. 1975 until 1992.
Nam Yao out of Santisuk in Nan.
Chiang Kham in amphur Phu Sang, Phayao.

As they phased out the Lao camps, the last one to go was the one at Chiang Kham.
I've often wondered exactly where it had been & after a late-night tip off at a GTR dinner in Chiang Kham, I got the info I was after.
"Opposite the DLT Land Transport office @ Phu Sang on R4010."
There's nothing to see there now, & opposite the DLT were a couple of farmers drying out their rice.
I approached them & asked if this had been the spot.
No, not here but further up the road at the amphur office.
Another 2 kms up the road is the amphur office & the Phu Sang police station.
The police station was the easiest option to ask, because there were a couple of cops outside at the front.
It took a while for them to understand what I was looking for, something that no longer existed!
But eventually the pennies dropped & the old cop knew what I was talking about & the young guy, knew nothing about it - before his time. Yet 20,000 people had lived here, detained in a refugee camp.
And the location, yep, basically right behind the police station there in what is now a rubber plantation.

I took a few snaps of the amphur / police station grounds for "posterity," been there done that, but there's nothing to see anymore. Zero trace of any old refugee camp.

The camp was set up in 1976 & at its peak had over 20,000 inhabitants.
Some images I was able to source from of the web.

Some images by Jack Dunford at the camp dated February 1985.

At the end of February 1991, there were 6,549 women and 7,882 children aged 9 and under in the camp, accounting for more than two thirds of the total camp population of 21,024.

The google maps view today.

Phu Sang Police Station · H8XF+J7F, Pa Sak, Phu Sang District, Phayao 56110, Thailand

★★★★☆ · Government

maps.app.goo.gl

The police seemed to indicate that towards the end they closed this one & moved it up the road by the hospital for a bit & then it was all shut down?


Note: Wat Tham Krabok out of Saraburi, from the late 70s - 2004/ 2005, hosted Hmong refugees too, & they once peaked at 15,000 Hmong!

 

[DavidFL]

Other Camps in the North

For those who maybe interested there was another camp in Nan - Nam Yao, on east side, at the junction of R1169 / R1081. Not far from what is now the Uan police Aun Police Station or directly opposite Ouan Oun Rak resort.

อวนอุ่นรัก Ouan oun rak · หมู่ 10 อวน Pua District, Nan 55120, Thailand

★★★★★ · Shelter

maps.app.goo.gl

VDO clip of a Hmong visit to the Nam Yao camp site in 2012.


There was also a camp at Sop Tuang?
Possibly around here

18°42'42.4"N 101°02'43.3"E · 18.711778, 101.045361

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Dodraugen]

What happend to all those refugees when the camps closed down? Back to Laos or did they get asylum anywhere else?

 

[DavidFL]

What happend to all those refugees when the camps closed down? Back to Laos or did they get asylum anywhere else?

Some info sourced from the web.


Peak Populations by Major Camp - Lao Refugee Camps

Ban Vinai - (former) refugee camp: Reached a peak population of 42,858 to 45,000 residents in 1986. At that time, it was one of the most densely populated refugee sites in Southeast Asia.

Nong Khai: (Nong Khai Province): Housed approximately 34,080 refugees at its height, the vast majority being lowland Lao.

Ubon Ratchathani: City Recorded a peak of 37,840 lowland Lao refugees.

Ban Nam Yao: Held over 13,400 refugees, primarily from highland ethnic groups.

Sob Tuang: Reached a population of approximately 10,427 refugees.

Wat Tham Krabok Buddhist temple: While not an official UN camp, this temple site held nearly 15,000



General Population Trends

1975–1979: Early influxes saw roughly 40,000 Hmong and tens of thousands of lowland Lao enter Thailand immediately following the change in government.

The 1980s: This was the period of highest occupancy.

By 1986, the average stay in a camp was seven years due to the slower pace of third-country resettlement.

Late 1990s–2000s: Populations dwindled as camps were consolidated or closed.

By the end of 1999, only 117 refugees with official status remained in the final camp, Ban Napho, although thousands of others lived unofficially at sites like Wat Tham Krabok.

Some interesting reads

Jerry Daniels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Jungle orphans

Thailand plans to deport all Hmong refugees in the country to Laos by year-end. *Nick Harvey* reports on the precarious position of the Hmong people, both inside Laos and in the bleak refugee camps of Thailand.

newint.org

5.4 Life of Refugees From Laos in Third Countries | Unforgettable Laos

Jungle orphans

Thailand plans to deport all Hmong refugees in the country to Laos by year-end. *Nick Harvey* reports on the precarious position of the Hmong people, both inside Laos and in the bleak refugee camps of Thailand.

newint.org

Robert Cooper who runs the Book Cafe in Vientiane is a full bottle on that Lao refugee crisis in 80s, was heavily involved with the UNHCR and managing those camps along the Lao - Thai border as they were set up.
As per linked in: Dr. Robert Cooper is a prominent anthropologist based in Vientiane, Laos. He has a PhD in Economic Anthropology and has served with the United Nations in various countries, including Laos. Dr. Cooper is known for his work in increasing literacy among young Lao people and managing Book-Café Vientiane, the largest bookshop in the country. His books, such as "CultureShock! Laos: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette," offer practical insights into Lao culture and traditions. Dr. Cooper's contributions to literature and cultural exchange have made him a respected figure in the community

 

[DavidFL]

See also

History

Contents Early History Vietnam Resettlement Early History The earliest written accounts show the Hmong living in China since 2700 B.C. However, following conflicts with the Han Dynasty, during t…

geriatrics.stanford.edu

Vietnam War
In the 1960s, the war in Vietnam spread into Northeastern Laos, where many Hmong lived. Villagers were recruited by both the Pathet Lao communist regime under the leadership of Lo Faydang and the Central Intelligence Agency for the American cause under the leadership of General Vang Pao. Consequently, Hmong men and boys served as soldiers on both sides of the war. From the early 1960s to 1975, an estimated 18,000-20,000 men died as soldiers, while an estimated 50,000 civilians died directly from the fighting or indirectly from disrupted village and agricultural life (Robinson, 1998, p. 13).

The changing political climate within the United States (U.S.) resulted in the withdrawal of its soldiers in 1975, leaving the Hmong to face persecution or death from the communist Pathet Lao. As people fled the war and resettled in new villages or foraged in the jungles, they were unable to raise crops to survive. From 1975 to 1997, approximately 138,000 Hmong escaped by crossing the hazardous Mekong River to refugee camps in Thailand, and an estimated 50,000-100,000 people died from fighting, diseases and starvation (Robinson, 1998, pp. 107, 294). Many elders have horrific tales about their physical and psychological traumas, suffered during the war and during the refugee flight.

The Hmong stayed in refugee camps supported by The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Thai government and international non-government agencies, who provided security, shelter, food, water, medical services, and limited economic opportunities (Robinson 1998). Camp officials encouraged people to resettle to other countries, as the camps were a temporary arrangement. Many people were reluctant to leave for a variety of reasons, including their not wanting to leave Asia, giving up on liberating Laos, splitting up their families, or beginning new lives in foreign countries where they didn’t know the language and the customs (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993).

Resettlement
Resettlement education programs tried to allay these fears. Ultimately from 1975 to 1997, over 100,000 Hmong resettled to the U.S; others went to France, Australia, French Guyana, or Canada (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993; Robinson, 1998), Once the last official refugee camp closed in 1997, the remaining refugees either officially returned to Laos with UNHCR support, or they illegally stayed in Thailand. Tens of thousands of Hmong people found safe haven at Wat Tham Krabok, a Buddhist monastery under the protection of head monk Luam Phaub (Nelson, 2003).

In December of 2003, the U.S. Department of State and the Thai government declared their plan to resettle 15,000 registered Hmong people at the temple as official refugees. From June 2004 to June 2006 the majority of these Hmong resettled in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, joining their family members (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005a).