Suppression, Prevention -- And Less Corruption -- All Key To Curbing The Narcotics Trade

Today, many countries around the world celebrate the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Thailand will be doing its share by organising the familiar old ceremony it holds every year, which in the past has featured a huge public demonstration that culminated in the burning of a large cache of illicit drugs seized from traffickers. This year's spectacle may not be as dramatic as in previous years because the government has abandoned the practise of torching illicit drugs in a gigantic bonfire, which environmentalists say causes pollution. Instead, 10 million tablets of amphetamines weighing 892 kilograms, about 50 kilos of heroin, eight kilos of ecstasy pills, 47 kilos of opium, just over half a kilo of cocaine and 200 grams of marijuana will be incinerated under controlled conditions.

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Tomorrow marks United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, when people and governments celebrate the dream of a drug-free world. In Burma, the ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) uses this day to appeal for more aid in their fight against narcotics, staging drug-destruction ceremonies in Rangoon, where everything from opium bulbs to No-4 heroin and cough syrup are torched or crushed for the benefit of the international community. SPDC officials and diplomats congratulate each other and talk about progress, drug-free deadlines and development.

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7.2 million baht, drugs and offenders seized

The records of War on Drugs III show that from April 1 to June 16, 142 retailers and drug addicts with 38,000 speed pills were found and 7,200,000 baht from 13 drug dealers was confiscated, according to Pol. Col. Chamnan Ruadreuw, deputy commander of Chiang Mai Provincial Police.

Fourteen police stations set up almost a hundred checkpoints, resulting in the apprehension of drug dealers and illegal laborers. On June 16, 87 Burmese illegal immigrants were found, along with 8 weapons, 6 criminals, 1 motorcycle thief, 8 drug traffickers with arrest warrants out against them and 16 drug addicts and drug possessors with 200 ya ba pills.

Pol. Col. Chamnan said that the officers would continue to suppress drug wholesalers and retailers with names in the police black list. He claimed that several drug dealers would be arrested before June 30, the scheduled end of the third war on drugs.

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Previously unsuccessful searches of Chinese Haw villages, Baan Roong Aroon at Tambon Huay Pa, Baan Rak Thai, and Baan Mok Jampae at Tambon Mok Jampae in Muang, Mae Hong Son were repeated, after further reports of drug movements during the rainy season. Apparently, the villagers wait until the police withdraw and then carry on smuggling as normal.

However, new reports indicated that several new houses had been built with secret compartments and hollow spaces that could be used to hide drugs. Other houses, previously the homes of dealers who had been evicted, were once again occupied and the police were checking on the new residents and a wary eye is being kept on these villages.

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Human rights defenders and relatives of those killed during the February-April 2003 campaign wonder why the authorities have stopped investigating 1,639 of the 2,598 cases

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's government seems less amenable to the investigation into 2,598 murder-related cases during the first war on drugs two years ago.

The government's investigation panel headed by Deputy Attorney-General Praphan Naikowit recently disclosed the investigation results of the so-called shooting-to-death cases.

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PHUKET: Drugs were yet again the main cause for arrests in Phuket in April, according to the latest Provincial Police crime statistics.

A total of 93 people were arrested for drug-related offenses between April 1 and April 30, compared with 81 arrests in March.

Possession of ya bah (methamphetamine) accounted for the largest number of arrests -- 38 -- in April, followed by marijuana possession, for which people 30 were arrested.

Of the remaining 25 drugs arrests, 20 were for substance abuse, three were for using krathom (a local plant that is a stimulant when ingested), one involved Ecstasy and one involved hashish.

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Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra renewed his commitment to the war on drugs on April 11 at a meeting attended by Deputy Prime Minister Pol. Gen. Chitchai Wannasathit and the Minister of Interior, Suwat Liptapanlop and other dignitaries.

Officials are instructed to cooperate to control and eradicate drugs in every region of Thailand.

"Today is an important day when we join together to warm Thais hearts by saving our children from drugs. Even though we have already done this twice before, the government will continue to pursue results ... and eliminate the drugs that destroy our country's future," the PM said.

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Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra wants the national anti-drug agency to carry on crop substitution and farm projects at Yongkha village in Burma opposite Chiang Rai, while the agency wants to know Rangoon's stance before spending 15 million baht more on this.

Last week, Third Army commander Lt-Gen Picharnmet Muangmanee said the Third Army and the Doi Tung Royal Project had already halted assistance to various development projects for ethnic Wa, including the 30-million-baht Yongkha village development project and development of twin villages at the border costing 20 million baht, because the minority group did not stop producing drugs.

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Bangkok police hope to coax 900 drug addicts to get treatment every month as part of measures to help the government win the latest round in its war on drugs, the city police chief said yesterday.

Pol Lt-General Parnsiri Praphawat said it was essential to the government's efforts to crack down on drugs that drug addicts get treatment and turn over a new leaf.

Speaking after a meeting with senior city police officers and representatives of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board and the Narcotics Suppression Division, he each of Bangkok's nine police divisions were assigned to convince 100 drug addicts to seek treatment every month.

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Effective Crime Fights Need Allies

The Many Shapes Of Transnational Crime Will Dominate Discussions For The Next Eight Days In Bangkok

One of the objectives of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's third war on drugs launched last week is the complete end of narcotics production in Thailand. But he can never attain this goal without the wide-ranging help of the international community.

This explains the effort to secure the support of friends at the 11th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice opening today at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre.

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Also talk about ways to reduce Songkran casualties

A meeting chaired by Banglamung District Chief Worawit Saisupatphol on April 4 at Wat Khaomaikaew discussed the drug situation in the villages throughout the district, and ways to protect against the spread of narcotics. The meeting, which was the fourth to be held this year for village headmen and senior officials, also discussed ways of cutting down on accidents during the Songkran festival.

Most of the problems stemmed from the transfer of drugs from the border, which is releasing a high quantity of drugs into the market, the meeting was told. The number of agents was increased after the national anti-drugs project was announced. This has increased the distribution price, and it's easier for pushers to earn more money.

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This time, the government should wage a smarter campaign against pushers while winning over impressionable youths

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday launched the third phase of his war on drugs, despite having claimed "total victory" over drug barons and street pushers in two previous crackdowns that left more 2,500 dead under dubious circumstances, most of them small-time traffickers. What is the public to make of this latest anti-drug campaign? Part of the answer was provided by the premier himself, speaking to representatives of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), the Justice, Interior and Public Health Ministries and the National Police Bureau. He told them the war on drugs was an ongoing, long-term process that must be maintained in the face of the ever-evolving nature of the illicit trade.

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The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) held a seminar on system management to prevent drug dealing within eight Northern provinces, at Lotus Pang Suan Kaew Hotel on March 23. Almost 300 participants attended.

Pinyo Thongchai deputy secretary general of ONCB, said, "A system management to prevent drug dealing depends on pursuing drug issues and receiving information from residents. There are an estimated 10,000 drug dealers for whom there are arrest warrants out but they have escaped from the country or hide in different provinces. Some narcotic laws will be reformed to update suppression in many different cases and for preventing escapes, as many drug dealers are covering their activities by establishing a good public image, helping society or with charitable activities. They are running legal businesses but dealing in drugs in the back."

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Human-Rights Activists Fear Another Spate Of Extrajudicial Killings

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday launched a new round of the "War on Drugs", sparking fears that drastic action could lead to another wave of extrajudicial killings and further tarnish the country's standing on human rights.

"We will pay extra attention to former convicts and drug suspects who have had arrest warrants issued against them," Thaksin said, as representatives from relevant agencies gathered to hear his anti-drugs policy.

Thaksin said the first "War on Drugs" was the government policy that the public was most happy with during the last administration. The new crackdown will last from this month until June.

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It has been almost six months since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra launched his campaign against corruption. The launch was as low key as the campaign itself has been. So little has been heard about this campaign that one might wonder whether it is continuing or has been allowed to die quietly away.

This raises the major question of whether the prime minister is genuinely interested in ridding corruption from the government bureaucracy.

The only matter involving corruption that Mr Thaksin has taken any real interest in is the doctoring of sodium chloride purchased by the state for use in artificial rain-making to help alleviate the drought, a project supervised by His Majesty the King. And there is some question whether this matter would have attracted the attention of Mr Thaksin and his government if it not been for the fact that the project is supervised by His Majesty.

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Disguised as regular ya ba buying customers at the irrigation canal near Huay Tung Thao reservoir in Mae Rim, Chiang Mai, police ended up gunning down Santipap or "Luang" Thairomyen, 31, and Worapoj Laosorn, 28, two Lisu hill tribesmen drug dealers, on the morning of March 22.

While they were in process of trading, the two men detected the sting and started shooting. Police returned fire and the two fell, riddled with bullets. They found 30,000 ya ba pills, an AK-47 assault weapon and a .22 mm pistol.

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Government's War On Drugs, Phase 4, To Begin April 1

Phase 4 of the government's war on drugs is scheduled to begin April 1, and locally, Banglamung district residents are being encouraged to report drug related activities to the Banglamung Drug Operations Center.

The center has outlined a "road map" plan to defeat the drug problem within the district. The plan is to gather information from residents and members of the community. These residents are being encouraged to report suspected drug activities to relevant officials with the aim to reduce the drug problem where it no longer presents a danger to society.

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Campaign Backed, But Confidence Low In Poll

The majority of people polled in 25 provinces across the country have no confidence in the government's ability to eradicate drugs from Thailand.

In a recent survey by Assumption University's Abac poll, 68% of 5,168 respondents, representing a range of age groups, said they had no confidence in the plan's success, while only 23% thought the campaign would be successful.

However, 74% of respondents supported the campaign to eradicate drugs, saying they were ready to provide information and clues regarding illicit drugs to the authorities.

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US and Thai researchers gearing up to launch ground-breaking clinical trials on Aids prevention in Bangkok have found themselves torn between US administration restrictions and Thai activist hostility.

Thai authorities this week approved a trial co-ordinated by the US-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on 1,600 intravenous drug users designed to see whether tenofovir, an anti-retroviral medicine already used successfully in treating HIV positive patients, could also be applied as a prophylactic.

But Thai Aids campaigners have raised questions about researchers' decision to study drug users in Thailand, where in 2003 the government waged a bloody "war against drugs" during which several thousand suspected drug peddlers were gunned down. No one has been held accountable.

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Caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has told police to put the country under the microscope again prior to a new war on drugs that is to begin once his new government is in place.

Mr Thaksin also wants the Public Health Ministry to cut demand for drugs through rehabilitation of addicts, community cooperation in preventing drug use, and promotion of family love and care.

National police chief Kowit Wattana said Mr Thaksin told a meeting on crime yesterday that police officers holding positions of commander and superintendent would be held responsible if drugs returned to areas under their jurisdiction.

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