The United States has agreed to accept about 14,000 ethnic Hmong refugees currently living at Wat Tham Krabok, the open holding centre for Hmong in Thailand's Saraburi Province, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra revealed yesterday.

PM Thaksin said that the United States would accept 800-900 of Hmong refugees each month, up to a total of 14,000, with no conditions attached. The remainder of the Hmong refugees would continue to be cared for by the government of Thailand.

Stressing that any Hmong wishing to immigrate to the United States would have to be free from involvement in drugs, Prime Minister Thaksin said, adding that all the Hmong would also have to be tested for AIDS.

Thailand's Premier attributed the United State's decision to the growing strength of Thai-US relations, while also noting that border problems between Thailand and Laos, where nearly all of the Hmong refugees come from, have considerably eased.

Wat Tham Krabok temple in Thailand is famous for its drugs detoxification program. The first Hmong to arrive at the Wat Tham Krabok temple in Thailand in the year 1960's were mostly opium addicts.