Saying goodbye at Ban Vinai, many Hmong families wept at yet another scattering of their families, c. 1985. Photographer: Jan Folsom.

The American withdrawal in 1975 created panic and chaos throughout Southeast Asia as hundreds of thousands of refugees from South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fled to Thailand. Those who had aided the Americans feared that they would be targeted for revenge once the Communists came to power. Others fled the staggering devastation that years of bombing and bloodshed had heaped upon their homelands.

To no one's surprise, the American withdrawal spelled the end of the Royal Lao Government. A provisional coalition government, formed in 1974, provided a face-saving transition to Pathet Lao rule. Deprived of the American subsidies upon which it had grown dependent for more than a decade, the Laotian economy collapsed. Cut off from American arms and air power, the Secret Army disbanded. In May 1975, General Vang Pao and many of his supporters were airlifted from Long Tieng to Thailand. Thousands followed on foot. Others remained to rebuild their homes and villages or continue the fight. From 1975 through 1992, more than 100,000 Hmong crossed into Thailand, along with nearly 250,000 ethnic Lao and other Laotian highlanders. Approximately 200,000 Hmong remained in Laos.

South of the Mekong River in Thailand, refugees poured into crude, overcrowded camps with food and water in short supply. Malnutrition and disease in the confined spaces produced many deaths. Within months, the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) and a host of international agencies responded to the crisis, coordinating food, water, housing, and medical supplies. Over time, conditions improved. The camps developed a culture of their own with schools, markets and recognized leaders. Nevertheless, the camps remained temporary as refugees pondered the inevitable-whether to return to Laos, or pursue life in another country.