Thailand (AP):

Thai troops packed more than 4,000 ethnic Hmong into military trucks yesterday for a one-way journey to Laos, all but ending the Hmong's three-decade search for asylum following their alliance with the United States during the Vietnam War.

The United States and human-rights groups have said the Hmong could be in danger if returned to the country that they fought, unsuccessfully, to keep from falling into communist hands in the 1970s. Though Thai soldiers were armed with batons and shields yesterday, Colonel Thana Charuwat said no weapons were used in the repatriation and the Hmong offered no resistance.