The leader of the Hmong community at Wat Thamkrabok in Thailand's Sarabury province confirms to VOA that Thai authorities have temporarily suspended their order for the approximately 1,500 Hmongs who have recently entered the monastery to go back to where they had come from, pending resolution of the problem.
Thai officials say those Hmongs had entered the area illegally, hoping to join the on-going US resettlement program.
A group of Hmong representatives in the U.S. is heading to Thailand for talks with Thai authorities, in an effort to solve the problem.
In Washington, a State Department spokesman says the U.S. is working closely with the Thai government with regard to the Hmongs in Thailand, adding that they are an important focus of the administrations's attention.
Listen to our audio file above for more details.