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Once again the Thai Army is under an unwanted spotlight, illustrating the fact that the military top brass do not have the capacity to learn from their past mistakes. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) on Wednesday denounced the Thai Army for systematically bullying staff and the Hmong refugees at the Huay Nam Khao camp in Petchabun province.

"MSF is no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of the camp, and MSF refuses to collaborate any longer with this operation which presents to the international community a false sense of transparency," MSF head of mission in Thailand Gilles Isard told a press conference in Bangkok.

"We can no longer work in a camp where the military uses arbitrary imprisonment of influential leaders to pressure refugees into a 'voluntary' return to Laos, and forces our patients to pass through military checkpoints to access our medical clinic," Isard said.

"Therefore we have taken the decision to stop all activities in the Hmong displaced persons camp of Huay Nam Khao," he added.

Thailand has over 1,000 generals, all walking around, sticking their chests out and showing off their ribbons and medals - awarded for anything from fighting the communists three decades ago to saving a duck from drowning in a pond. And yet, all these bigwigs with inflated egos think they are not subject to any international standards, norms or codes of conduct.

They claim to be defending the Kingdom against this or that threat, and yet they are unable to come up with a sensible policy to handle a group of peaceful Hmong refugees from Laos. Perhaps they are embracing apathy as if it's some sort of virtue.

One can't say that the Army didn't see this coming. One news report followed another about the ill treatment of the refugees in the camp, yet the brass in Bangkok, as well as political bosses, continued to turn a blind eye to the issue.

Moreover, the fact that some of the Hmong refugees in Phetchabun are descendants of the fighters employed by the Thai and US militaries in their secret war against communism in Indochina should have been enough of a smoke signal to the Army that the issue is sensitive.

MSF made the right decision to call on the United Nations and the US and French governments to pressure Thailand and Laos to stop the forced repatriation of the Hmong refugees at the camp. They should be well aware that such a practice is against all humanitarian norms.

According to Isard, the military in March blocked food supplies to the camp, and last month the Army locked up the MSF clinic and warehouse.

"Now our people are obliged to pass through military checkpoints to get treatment," he said, adding that one pregnant woman had to be passed under a barbed-wire fence to get her to the delivery room.

MSF has been providing food, medicine and health services to more than 5,000 Hmong displaced persons at Huay Nam Khao camp since July 2005. The group's annual budget is about US$2.6 million(Bt89.4million) a year for its Huay Nam Khao activities. Perhaps this bloated Army of ours could learn a thing or two from these volunteer doctors about appropriation.

MSF, known in English as Doctors Without Borders, says it has recorded at least 180 cases of Huay Nam Khao residents who bear scars from bullet wounds and other signs of past torture, and has taken testimony from many other camp residents who fear for their lives if they are forced to return to communist Laos.

While the economic migrants should return to Laos, there are over 100 Hmong at Huay Nam Khao who appear to be genuine political asylum seekers. Many have obtained "Person of Concern," or POC, status from the United Nations.

In line with international norms, these people should be eligible for resettlement, and Thailand, as a responsible member of the international community, should facilitate this on their behalf.

The Thai government should immediately cease all forced repatriation - and its schemes and ruses that hoodwink refugees into returning to Laos - until an independent third party can review the refugee status claims of all the Hmong internees, a move that has not been permitted so far.

In cases where repatriation is to take place, Thailand and Laos should permit a third party to monitor the resettlement of any refugees who are sent back.