Neej Thoj Nam (Refugee Stories)

[rgettys]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone could share experiences of what it was like to live in the refugee camps in Thailand or give me a good website, book, youtube video to watch that accurately portrays what it was like. I am not just looking for people who lived in Vinai, but if am happy to hear any experiences. I have already gotten mixed reviews, some say that the camps were crowded, nasty, and you couldn't go anywhere, and some people look back with nostalgia on Vinai and call the experience fun because they got to participate in soccer tournaments and stuff like that. Was there both involved?

[yuknowthat]

Lub neej thoj nam , yog ib lub neej ua kho siab, txom nyem tshaj plaws rau tej niam tej txiv, pog yawg.

there's many who experience a lot of things. Here's a couple

Poor living conditions, Poverty, Being Abused by Oso or thai officials , Drugs,Underground gambling, Soccer, Music, and unexplained paranormal things.

For those who are now in the ages ranging from 40's-60s now today never really experience much as besides being introduced to music, sports, and a little bit of education.

[rgettys]

Why be so bias on the Hmong in Thailand? Why can it be Hmong History from 3000 B.C. until now?

Valid question, I feel that a lot of Hmong history focuses only on Hmong in the US, while the Hmong in the US represent only around 6% of the Hmong in the world (using numbers provided by Jacques Lemoine). I am in a class where we just spent 4 weeks talking about the history of Hmong in China, in Laos, in Vietnam and in Thailand and now we are focusing on the history of the Hmong in the US, so I wanted to see if I could get first hand experiences.

Ua tsaug koj sau mentsis kuv nyeem tau yuknowthat. Koj puas tau nyob hauv ib lub refugee camp thiab?

[Xeemxai]

Zoo lo ma kav tsij tsawb fawb thiab kaws cia ua dab neeg rau lawm yav tom ntej.  Ib txhias yas thiab ib txhias tsi tau yug xwb thiaj tsi pom lub neej tawg tsog zoo lis cas.

[YeejKoob13]

Not sure how wide the scope you are looking for, but check into the political assassinations or killings too. I was only a little kid back then and can barely remember Vinai anymore, but my oldest brother (a mid teenager already then) recalls when 2 Thais on a motorcycle came and shot a Hmong elder basically in front of a crowd of people playing and watching soccer. He assumes it was Hmong (maybe former Gen Vang Pao's crew?) who hired those Thais to come and kill the other Hmong, as it was target specific. Him and a whole bunch of Hmong gave chase, but the motorcycle outran them all.

My brother also remembers people who go outside of the camp to work or find food only to encounter Thai thieves, bandits, rapists, etc, and they were violated.

[YeejKoob13]

I'm thinking the only ones who thought it was adventurous or fun were the very young people (late teens and early teens) back then, like some of my brothers. I wouldn't think any parent or elder had fond memories of then, when we just lost the war, lost people, lived in squalid conditions, and unsure of the future, especially since coming to the West would mean "facing giant cannibals".

[YeejKoob13]

Why be so bias on the Hmong in Thailand? Why can it be Hmong History from 3000 B.C. until now?

Sheesh. He wanted a narrow scope of the Hmong experience back in the camps after we lost the war, that's it.

What you're asking for is another topic(s) altogether. And it's a HUGE one... Imagine him trying to report or write a somewhat detailed history of ancient Hmong until now? LOL. The thickness of his book would be all the different bibles combined 10x over. He'd be dead before he even finishes the rough draft.