Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 Source: Manila Times (Philippines) Copyright: 2003, The Manila Times Contact: http://www.manilatimes.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/921 Author: Martin Petty THAILAND'S STRAY DOGS PUT BITE INTO ANTIDRUGS CRUSADE BUA Dang spends his days digging through piles of rubbish outside one of Bangkok's slums, hunting for scraps of food. One night, he is set upon by a group of uniformed men, bundled into a van and taken to a military base on the outskirts of the city. Weeks later, the scruffy, ginger-haired mongrel finds himself on the frontline of Thailand's antidrugs crusade, one of 50 stray dogs trained by the Thai military in counterterrorism and fighting crime. Among his jobs is to sniff out narcotics along the volatile border with Myanmar. The strays were each assigned an instructor and given names before being sent for three months of intensive training. Bua Dang was one of the prized pupils at his military training school and was top dog of his class. His handler said three years as a ravenous pup sniffing dustbins for scraps meant he had no problems hunting out illicit methamphetamine pills or explosives. "Bua Dang was very quiet and lonely when he first arrived here. He's beginning to become playful and he really enjoyed his training," Banchong Phubaibang told Reuters. The Royal Thai Army took the lead in training the homeless hounds after Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej suggested homeless dogs be given jobs. Hail Caesar! He has so far sent two of his own pets, Julius and Caesar, for training and has offered two other dogs, Throng That and Throng At, to be trained in retrieving lost items. The army said it had deployed 42 of the successful dog graduates at the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Cambodia borders to detect explosives and drugs. Twenty-nine of the dogs have joined Bua Dang to work alongside the Pha Muang Task Force at the Thailand-Myanmar frontier where there have been a series of clashes between Myanmar troops and ethnic rebels. The clashes sometimes stray into Thai territory. The International Narcotics Control Board said an estimated 5 percent of Thailand's population were regularly abusing methamphetamines prior to a recent crackdown by the government, and most of the drugs entering the country are thought to be from Myanmar, formerly Burma. The new sniffers could be instrumental in helping Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra fulfill his public pledge to rid "every inch of Thai soil" of illicit drugs by the end of the year. The kingdom has millions of homeless dogs. No one knows how many, but unlike most countries, Thailand does not kill off its strays because Buddhists revere all forms of life. Princess of Pooches The country has a long-standing love affair with its dogs, shown last year when Tongdaeng, a former stray from the streets of Bangkok, was elevated to superstar status overnight. Some 100,000 people queued up outside shops to buy a book about her, written by her owner, the king. The book topped Thailand's bestseller lists and over a million of the country's 62 million people are expected to buy a copy. The king's book hails Tongdaeng as one of the most respectful, grateful and well-mannered dogs in the world, and an example to Thais - particularly politicians - on how to behave. The stray sniffer scheme is saving the country money, too. Thai police previously delegated the task of drugs and explosives detection to foreign breeds like German shepherds, labradors, retrievers, and Dobermans, but foreign purebreds are expensive. Police say street dogs can be rounded up and trained at a much lower price. For some dogs, though, years of untamed living in Bangkok's notorious slums meant military discipline proved difficult. Somak Posoonnern, a sergeant in the Thai Army, said the street dogs were not as good as foreign counterparts, although they could reach the same standard if they were trained when puppies. MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk