Photo Credit: John Baynard
11/02/2007

Kohatu didn’t give his age, but he looked to be in his late 40’s. He had recently arrived with his seven children at the Tham Hin refugee camp in Thailand, about three hours outside of Bangkok, after fleeing persecution in Burma. In Tham Hin, over 8,400 people are crammed onto land little more than one quarter of a mile wide and one mile long. Suffering the results of old injuries, Kohatu has limited use of his right arm and difficulty walking. His wife died in Burma, and he is now living with his children in a house vacated by his sister who was recently resettled in the United States. Kohatu told Refugees International that he walked four days from his village in Burma to Tham Hin camp. He escaped without food and slept in the jungle without shelter, constantly fearing arrest and detention by the Burmese police.