Pubdate: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2004 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 DRUG TRADE FLOURISHES IN KLONG TOEI Despite the government's ongoing war on the drugs, Klong Toei slum's deep-rooted drug-abuse problem is far from being solved, police and social workers say. This year almost 600 drug addicts and dealers in the community had been arrested, leaving more than 100 of their children without parental custody, said Colonel Chatchai Rianmek, superintendent of Bangkok's Tha Rua police station, which has jurisdiction over the Klong Toei area. Many of those children have become homeless and started sniffing glue, according to Chatchai. Many have been lured into the drugs trade, he said, adding that some rackets in Klong Toei have recruited children to "run drugs" for them. With another 3,000 community residents arrested last year alone for drug-related offences, hundreds more children faced the same fate, the policeman said. Although Klong Toei's drug problem has improved since the government's war on drugs, it was still far from over, Chatchai said. "In many cases, after parents were put in jail for selling ya ba, and their children took over the business from them," Chatchai said. An anti-drug volunteers in the community said that some drug dealers encouraged children as young as 8 to try glue-sniffing for free and, when they became addicted, forced them to deliver drugs in exchange for more glue. Nitaya Prompochuenboon, a social worker in the Klong Toei community, said that despite the government's efforts to suppress the drug trade, they remained a major problem there. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake