February 15, 2008
BANGKOK - Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej will visit neighboring Laos on his first overseas trip later in this month or early March, according to Finance Ministry.
The trip aims to boost ties with communist-ruled Laos, Noppadon Pattama told reporters. He declined to give further details.
While Thailand and Laos enjoy booming bilateral trade and tourism, they have come under heavy criticism from the United Nations and rights groups over their handling of ethnic Hmong refugees, according to AFP.
Hmong in the 1960s and 1970s fought alongside US forces when the Vietnam War spilled into Laos. After the war ended in 1975, hundreds of thousands fled to Thailand due to fear of persecution, and many resettled in the United States.
Thousands of Hmong still live in and around informal refugee camps in Thailand.
Thailand's attempts to deport Hmong refugees back to Laos have been met with hunger strikes and suicide threats.
