Model who criticized Myanmar’s military fears repatriation

BANGKOK — A model from Myanmar who denounced her country’s military rulers last year from the stage of a beauty pageant in Thailand said Friday she fears she may be forced back home.

Thaw Nandar Aung, also known as Han Lay, told The Associated Press by phone that she has been stuck at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport since being denied reentry to Thailand when she arrived Wednesday night from a short trip to Vietnam. She has been living in Thailand but needed to exit and reenter in order to extend her stay.

She said she met Friday with representatives of the United Nations refugee agency in an effort to avoid being sent back to Myanmar, where she fears harsh punishment from the military government she has criticized.

People denied entry to Thailand are usually deported to their last point of departure, but the U.N. agency advised her she would be arrested in Vietnam and then…