Five Years: The Boxing Day Tsunami

Thailand to Deport Hmong Back to Laos

This is disgraceful and shocking and so unBuddhalike that words fail me. The Thai government has announced that 5000 ethnic Lao Hmong refugees in the country will immediately be herded up and put and buses and sent across the "Friendship" Bridge back to Laos and possible imprisonment and execution by the communist monsters who rule Southeast Asia's most isolated and only landlocked country.

Got that? The Thai government howls in righteous indignation when Cambodia decides to sent 20 Uiguars (WEE gurs) back to China in exchange for a loan of US$1B. Then they turn around and almost immediately announce the deportation of Hmong refugees back to Laos. Did the Thai government get money for this betrayal?

Who cares if these people are either political or economic refugees?

And quit trying to blame the United Nations and United States for this scandalous situation. The U.S. has taken in tens of thousands of Hmong refugees, both political and economic.

Thailand under the political rule of the so-called "Democratic Party" is shameful and should immediately stop this horrible extradition.

Bangkok Post reports neutrally on this horrible situation.

In the face of international condemnation, the government will start an operation to clear a refugee camp in Phetchabun and repatriate more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong to Laos this evening.

More than 100 buses and trucks will be used to deport the ethnic Hmong to Laos, said a security source involved in the operation.

The government will press ahead with the forced deportation, despite opposition from the United States, the United Nations and human rights groups. The government has insisted the repatriation plan will be carried out humanely. Security authorities said the deportation of the ethnic Hmong is going according to plan and the people held at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Khao Kho district of Phetchabun will be moved according to schedule.

"More than 100 trucks and buses will take the Hmong from the camp to Laos on Monday morning. The first moves to clear the camp will occur on Sunday evening," a source said. Hundreds of security officers wearing bullet-proof vests have been assigned to secure the camp since yesterday. Mobile phone signals have been jammed to prevent the Hmong from contacting outsiders.

Third Army chief Thanongsak Apirakyothin yesterday visited the camp to inspect preparations to deport the Hmong. He said he was satisfied with the preparations. The Hmong will be taken to Nong Khai and be driven across the Friendship Bridge into Laos.

Democrat Party spokesman Buranaj Smutharaks said the government's decision to repatriate the Hmong was based on human rights principles and international cooperation agreements and added that the government did not intend to prevent the Hmong from travelling to other countries. "If any third-party countries agreed to receive these migrants, we would have no need to do this," he said.

Villagers at Huay Nam Khao were pleased that the camp would be closed. They said the existence of the camp has slowed development in the village and made it difficult to make a living.

The US has asked the government to delay the deportation, but has refused to agree to a large-scale resettlement for the Hmong. A spokesperson from the US embassy in Bangkok said the US had expressed its concern about the forced deportation, as it would involve the involuntary return of people whom both the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Thai government have identified as having concerns for their protection.

"We have encouraged the government to delay plans to proceed with a large-scale repatriation," the spokesperson said. "We have also urged the government to provide greater transparency in its screening process and emphasised that those with protection concerns should not be forced back to their homeland. "The US has no plans for any large-scale resettlement of the Lao Hmong. However, we will consider referrals made on an individual basis by international organisations like the UNHCR," she said.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva earlier said Thailand's plan to deport the Hmong to Laos will not violate human rights issues. The repatriation would conform to international standards and Thailand would adhere to human rights rules. Thailand had worked closely with the Lao government on the deportation and Vientiane said it would let other countries visit the Hmong upon their return to Laos, he said.

The ethnic minority Hmong in Phetchabun are seeking political asylum, claiming they face persecution from the regime in Laos because they fought alongside US forces during the Vietnam War. But Thailand and Laos have insisted they are economic migrants.

Pimp Control of Russian Prostitutes at Grace Hotel

I don't have any problem with freelance working girls who ply their trade without the help of pimps or gang members who demand monthly payments for "protection." A woman owns her body, and if she wants to rent it out to pay the bills, I think that is her privilege and responsibility.

The one thing I hate are the pimps, mobsters, police officers, and political types who suck into the prostitution racket to thicken their wallets by exploiting the freelance workers of Patpong, Nana and Cowboy.

A new breed is working on the foreign prostitutes (mostly Russian, Uzbekistan, Kazakstan) who operate off Sukumvit Soi 3 near the infamous Grace Hotel. Tis a pity that the cops look the other way. Could they possibly be on the take?

Bangkok Post has yet another story on this ongoing problem.

Extortion is also a big business and an entrenched part of the trade in sleaze that is flourishing in the Sukhumvit area of Bangkok late at night. The main targets of the gangs are the many foreign prostitutes who ply their trade on the street and in the hotels around the lower end of Sukhumvit Road.

One particular gang specialising in extorting money from the foreign prostitutes is based in the discotheque of a medium-sized hotel in Soi 3. [Grace Hotel] The disco is frequented mainly by Iranian and Arab men and about 50 foreign prostitutes, mostly from Russia and Uzbekistan, who go there every night looking for customers.

This was revealed to Spectrum during a recent interview with a woman known only as Vazira, a freelance prostitute from Uzbekistan, and collaborated by her Russian friends. Several Thai prostitutes working in the area also confirmed the existence of the gang as well as other gangs.

They said most of the gang members come from Iran, Pakistan and Africa and are involved in a variety of crimes.

According to Ms Vazira, one of these gangs extorting money from the foreign prostitutes is led by a Syrian man who calls himself Basm. His accomplice and countryman Mahmood also works in the disco. The other members of his gang are from Iran and Pakistan. They target the foreign prostitutes working at the disco.

Ms Vazira said that prostitutes who have Thai pimps, who give them protection and assistance if they are arrested, are not targetted by the extortionists.

"The gang will do some background checking of a potential target before making an approach. They are very careful not to get into trouble with Thai people," Ms Vazira said before going on to describe what happened to her and many of the other girls who work at the disco and are forced to pay protection money to Basm.

"I had been going to that particular discotheque almost every night for several years and never had any problems until a few days ago when I was walking back to my apartment in Soi 5 at around 4am - after having one customer and returning to the club.

"Basm followed me, grabbed my arm outside the hotel and said: 'Hey, look at me. Sometimes when I see you in the club, I want to put you in jail,' he said in bad English. I answered: 'Why? Anyone can come to the disco. What is the problem? I don't understand you.'

"He replied: 'I want some money from you. If you refuse then you cannot work there anymore.'

"I said I don't have money to pay you. I am sending almost everything I make to my parents and children back home every morning, and he said: 'I don't care what you say, I want money.' Then I left, frightened of what will happen," Ms Vazira said.

"I told my friends about this incident and they said they also heard about Basm from other girls. They told me to pay, otherwise I wouldn't be able to work and he could cause me some trouble as well.

"The first time he didn't say how much money he wanted me to pay, but two days later he approached me again, this time at the entrance to the disco. He told me to pay him 20,000 baht every month, otherwise I couldn't enter. I would then lose my main income because I can make money there from the Iranians because I speak their language. They usually pay well and don't cause trouble. There is no other place like it in the area.

"I am sure that before Basm approached me he knew I had no pimp and I was making good money, otherwise he wouldn't ask for so much. That's why he picked on me. Maybe someone else was watching me all the time."

Ms Vazira said Basm is about 23, slim and dark. She had seen him in the disco for a couple of months, but didn't talk to him. "Sometimes when he passed by, he only said to me 'how are you', as he did with the other girls. "He is very friendly with Mr Kew, who is the Thai owner. I saw them often talking to each other. "My friend told me that Kew pays Basm a salary and rent for his apartment in Soi 1, which he shares with Mahmood. Basm usually walks back home.

"When I saw Basm the first time, I knew he is not a good person. Why did I know? I was a nurse and used to work at the police hospital in Tashkent in Uzbekistan. We treated many drug addicts there, so I know everything about them, like what the symptoms are, what they look like and how they behave.

"Basm has all the symptoms. He also drinks whiskey and tequila. My friends told me Basm is indeed a drug addict and they are all afraid of him. He is a dangerous man.

"I saw Kew sitting and drinking with four to five Thai men in his club. The Thais were not looking for girls, only drinking, and then they left. I have been coming and going here for four years, so I know they must be policemen or Thai officials. Some wore safari jackets and black boots. I see Basm talking to them some time, but not for too long.

"I am afraid of him, especially when I walk back home. Maybe someone will hit me. I would like to call the police to check his room. Maybe he has some drugs there. I told my friends about this and asked them if they know some policemen who could search his apartment for drugs."

Ms Vazira did not say if she had paid Basm or intended to pay him, but her friends have now raised fears for her safety. Her mobile has now been switched off for days and searching for her proved fruitless.

Her friends haven't seen her for many days since she spoke to Spectrum. They are worried about her.