Pubdate: Sat, 02 Oct 2004
Source: Chiangmai Mail (Thailand)
Copyright: 2004 Chiangmai Mail
Contact:  http://www.chiangmai-mail.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3105
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

U.S. GRANTS USD 4.5 MILLION ASSISTANCE TO THAILAND

For Anti-Narcotics, Law Enforcement, Regional Activities

U.S. Embassy Information Resource Center - U.S. Ambassador Darryl N. 
Johnson and Department of Technical and Economic Cooperation Director 
General Ambassador Piamsak Milintachinda has signed an agreement through 
which the U.S. will provide more than USD 4.5 million of assistance to nine 
narcotics and legal projects in Thailand.

The projects cover the areas of criminal justice, law enforcement, 
trafficking in persons, intellectual property rights, drug crop control, 
demand reduction and regional cooperation.

Since 1974, the U.S. government has provided a total of over 85 million 
dollars to Thailand under the bilateral assistance program for 
anti-narcotics and law enforcement activities. Thai-U.S. bilateral 
cooperation in narcotics control is in the four program areas of opium crop 
control, demand reduction, law enforcement, and regional anti-narcotics 
activities.

Assistance under the Crop Control Project began in 1978 to help the then 
newly organized Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) establish a 
crop control division. This was to provide hill tribe farmers with viable 
alternative crops. After economic alternatives were in place in most areas, 
the Royal Thai Government (RTG) in 1984 initiated the opium eradication 
campaign. Thailand has now emerged as a leader in the drug control area and 
has begun to provide alternative development assistance and information 
sharing and training programs of its own for officials in neighboring and 
other countries.

Assistance under the Demand Reduction Project provides modest funding 
support for RTG and NGO anti-drug community outreach through a nationwide 
network. Funding also supports epidemiological and drug prevention studies 
in selected hill tribe villages and provides small grants to public and 
private institutions throughout the country in order to maximize impact at 
the community level. Finally, it provides assistance in establishing a 
methamphetamine outpatient treatment program based using the Matrix model, 
as well as a support for a Narcotics Control Technology Center.

The Law Enforcement project's main thrust is institution building. Through 
training and capacity building programs in investigation and intelligence, 
support for development in the criminal justice system and provision of 
limited equipment such as computers, radios, GPS, vehicles, and body armor, 
the project aims to find and bring to justice significant traffickers.

The Regional Project supports the RTG leadership role in working with 
regional states on narcotics control issues by funding regional meetings, 
workshops, and training.

The International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Bangkok is a joint 
Thai-US endeavor, which supports international cooperation and developing 
skills among Asian law enforcement professionals to confront the problem of 
transnational organized crime. Since this bilateral agreement was signed 
September 30, 1998, over 3,000 law enforcement professionals from around 
the region have been trained at ILEA. A new training facility was completed 
last May.

The project against Trafficking in Persons provides training and limited 
commodity support to a variety of Royal Thai Government agencies or 
non-governmental organizations that have responsibility to investigate and 
prosecute persons involved in trafficking of persons, especially women and 
children. Resources may support training, production of instructional 
manuals, establishment of specialized facilities such as interview rooms or 
shelters.

Measures against Intellectual Property Rights protection provide training 
and technical assistance to Thai police and customs officials to combat 
intellectual property piracy. Measures against money laundering are 
designed to provide technical support to AMLO, the Royal Thai Police and 
the Department of Special Investigations to prevent money laundering and 
meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force.

The project on Criminal Justice Sector Development is designed to enhance 
integrity in all sectors of the Thai criminal justice system.
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