<p>After they heard from rangers guarding the Nong Bua temporary shelter that refugees would be relocated to another temporary shelter at Usutha on 8 March, 29 refugee families have fled the shelter.</p>

<p>&lsquo;They say we go, we have to go. &nbsp;They say we stay, we have to stay, whether here, in Loepohoe or in Mae La (refugee camp).&rsquo; &nbsp;This is what Nomaele told me last September.</p> <p>Nomaele is a plump woman, aged beyond her years by hard work. &nbsp;Every time we met I mistakenly called her &lsquo;auntie&rsquo; although she is only 35. &nbsp;Her family and 2 others, 12 people in all, were sent across the Moei River to her home in Loepohoe at 8 in the morning of 5 February.</p>