It almost happened while former US President George Bush and his wife Barbara were in town as guests of Their Majesties the King and Queen. While Their Majesties and the special guests were having dinner, preparations were underway to deport 152 Hmong refugees and asylum seekers back across the Lao border at Nong Khai. It was great timing. After all, the plan was supposed to have been carried out during the three-day weekend (December 9-11) when nobody would notice it. Somehow, well-wishers got wind of the pending forced repatriation.

Several questions come to mind: Why is this happening now? Who is behind the scheme? What impact will it have on the government and its future? Most importantly, was it an act of conspiracy to undermine the government or was it just one of those "been there, done that" policies?

First of all, it was a strange diplomatic overture by the Thai authorities, especially the National Security Council, Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry, which insist the long-suffering Hmong refugees and asylum seekers should be deported as illegal immigrants. Moreover, they argue it is a continuity of Thai policy from the previous government - which is the same argument all over again, and one that has so far worked well in the case of Burma. Indeed, it is a big slap in the face by the government, which has pledged to follow ethical standards and work for just causes.

On the other hand, the responses from Washington and the UN Human Rights Council were swift, strong and devastating. Both lamented the same fact that Thailand was no longer following international norms of conduct. In Washington on December 8, Thai ambassador Virasak Footrakul was summoned to the State Department to answer US concerns about the forced repatriation. As if that was not enough, the next day, at his Bangkok residence, US ambassador Ralph Boyce lunched with Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont to press the importance of the issue.

Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, sent a letter from Geneva dated December 8 to Foreign Minister Nitya Pibunsonggram expressing concern over the forced repatriation - but nobody notified the Prime Minister's Office. Surayud was kept in the dark. The letter urged Thailand to comply with the international principle of refoulement, which has been the cornerstone of the country's policy towards refugees stranded inside its territory.

For decades, Thailand has observed the good practices of those signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, even though Bangkok has not yet sign it. The time has come for Thailand to do so. The argument used by Thai officials to justify the current position is that the signatory is not practical and can backfire. They fear the convention would encourage refugees to flood over the Thai border. The naked fact is that for the past half century, refugees from neighbouring countries have continuously crossed over the Thai border in large numbers. Indeed, signing the convention would allow Thailand to have a voice in handling, treating and protecting the unfortunate. This government repeatedly says it wants to be a government with good governance recognised by the world community. Here is a golden opportunity to achieve that.

It was incredible that the Thai authorities had the audacity to deport the Hmong, as 104 of them have "persons of concern status" (COR). Apparently, the Thai authorities are grumbling about how they were not notified by the UNHCR when the Hmong were screened and given this status. Whatever, the Thai authorities have committed a huge faux pas.

In April 1979, before the arrival of the UNHCR, Thailand used a so-called "shock strategy" to push back tens of thousands of Cambodian refugees along the border at Aranyaprathet. This was done in broad daylight in front of dozens of TV cameras. Former prime minister, General Kriangsak Chamanand, wanted the whole world to see that Thailand could not take care of this huge number of refugees and called on the international community to provide food and shelter. It worked. The UNHCR and others rushed in with tonnes of food and materials.

For the time being, as Foreign Ministry spokesman Kitti Washinondh has said, everything has been settled and the Hmong will stay where they are for humanitarian reasons. The US government has pledged to the Thai government that it will resettle the remaining Hmong. Washington has already taken most of the Hmong asylum seekers because of their past association with the CIA in Laos before the communist take-over in 1975. The US now has the world's largest Hmong community, around 160,000 people, most of whom live in California, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Nobody understands why the Thai authorities have been so keen to deport the Hmong. The contrary is true regarding the million-plus Burmese refugees and asylum seekers. In the past two years, hundreds of Hmong have been smuggled into Thailand. Authorities on both sides of the border have been playing a game of hide and seek with these unfortunate people. For instance, a group of 26 children was forcefully deported from Thailand to Laos last December. Nothing has been heard of them since. Despite continuous UN and diplomatic efforts, nobody knows their fate or whereabouts.

If these unscrupulous activities continue, our reputation and international standing will fall into the abyss. It will be hard to salvage even the current position a year from now.

Kavi Chongkittavorn