At the end of December, Thai troops packed more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong into military trucks for a one-way journey to Laos, all but ending the Hmong's three-decade search for asylum following their alliance with the United States during the Vietnam War.

The United States and rights groups have said the Hmong could be in danger if returned to the country that they fought, unsuccessfully, to keep from falling into communist hands in the 1970s.

The Thai government claims most of the Hmong are economic migrants who entered the country illegally and have no claims to refugee status.