On 7 May 2018, the Governments of Thailand and Myanmar successfully returned the second group of 93 displaced persons from Myanmar to their homeland.  A total of 20 persons from Ban Mai Nai Soi Temporary Shelter in Mae Hong Son Province left Thailand and entered Myanmar at the Ban Huay Ton Nun – Me Se border area in Mae Hong Son Province, while 73 others from temporary shelters in Kanchanaburi Province and Tak Province used the Mae Sot-Myawaddy international border crossing in Tak Province as entry point into Myanmar.  The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also assisted relevant government agencies in the preparation and logistical arrangements for the return.

The success of this second return demonstrated the continued good will and efforts of both governments. With support from relevant UN agencies and NGOs since the return of the first group in October 2016.  The return was a direct result of the first meeting of the Thailand-Myanmar Joint Working Group on the Preparation of the Displaced Persons from Myanmar on 28 March 2018 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, co-chaired by the Permanent Secretaries of both countries. Both sides had then expressed their readiness to closely cooperate on systematic and sustainable return of the remaining displaced persons from Myanmar to their homeland.   

Since 1987, Thailand has been providing shelters to Myanmar displaced persons where approximately 100,000 displaced persons still reside in the 9 temporary shelters located in the Thailand-Myanmar border provinces, namely Mae Hong Son, Tak, Kanchanaburi, and Ratchaburi.  Recent development in Myanmar, especially the peace process, has generated interest for voluntary return.  In this connection, Thailand and Myanmar have been closely cooperating and facilitating the return to Myanmar on a voluntary basis and to ensure safety, dignity, as well as sustainable return.  Both countries will further discuss on future returns at the second meeting of the Joint Working Group to be hosted by Myanmar in the second half of 2018.