Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, Thailand

The camp in northeastern Thailand that held tens of thousands of Hmong refugees from Laos.

On the Thai side of the Mekong

Ban Vinai opened in 1975 in Loei Province, in northeastern Thailand, as people from Laos crossed the Mekong after the Communist takeover. It became one of the largest Hmong communities in the world, with a population that at times exceeded 40,000.

A city of waiting

Ban Vinai had schools, markets, clinics, and religious life. It also had crowding, uncertainty, and years of waiting. Some families resettled in the United States, France, Australia, and Canada; others stayed for a decade or more. The camp closed in the early 1990s.

Connected stories

The parents of Boa Lee, described by the Department of State as the first Hmong American Foreign Service officer, met at Ban Vinai. See also Laos and the Hmong.