Pubdate: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 Source: Nation, The (Thailand) Copyright: 2004 Nation Multimedia Group Contact: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1963 DRUG ORPHANS: A COMMUNITY IN CRISIS Education, Financial Support Seen As Vital in District Hit By Drug-Related Violence LOEI - Drug deaths have orphaned one in eight children at Ban Ahee community school in Tha Li district, leaving many traumatised. "Some children have become very hard in their personalities after losing their parents," said schoolteacher Panjapol Jampanil. "Some witnessed their parents being shot dead in drug-related violence." Ban Ahee community school has 238 students from Grade 1 to Grade 9, 31 of them now orphaned after their parents died in drug-related incidents. "Drugs have destroyed my family," said a 15-year-old student at the school. The girl's father, who was involved in drugs, was shot dead in 1999. Her mother died of liver disease soon after. Her grandmother passed away late last year. "My dream has ended. My younger sister and I are all alone," the girl said. The girls are, however, determined to achieve success at school despite their predicament. Panjapol said drugs had first appeared in Ban Ahee community in 1995, when methamphetamine tablets began appearing and were soon being handed out like candies at entertainment events. One teacher had heard that payoffs kept police from doing anything about the problem right from the beginning. "The spread of drugs has affected the community to the point where authorities are reluctant to grant us any aid because we have a drug problem in the community," Panjapol said. Many of the students also used drugs. Panjapol said all 12 male ninth graders at the school were tested positive for drugs in 1998 and, sadly, most of them ended up in jail. But Panjapol added that students could still have a bright future if they were given support. "One of our brightest students lost his father because of the drug trade. If these children have financial support, their lives will be better," Panjapol said. Samian Khanyoo, director of Ban Nong Pokkati school, said that financial support would give educational opportunities. "And the education will not only shield them from drugs to a certain extent, but will also lead them to opportunities." Financial contributions to help these children can be made through a bank account in the name of "Pratharnthip for Thai Children," Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, account number 0332933924. - ---------- Police cite African connection More and more African men are being arrested on drug charges, mostly for trying to smuggle cocaine into the country, a senior policeman said yesterday. African drug smugglers, mostly from Nigeria and Zimbabwe, run garment-export businesses as fronts, Lt-General Watchara Prasanrajakit, commissioner of the Narcotics Suppression Division, told reporters. They rely on their Thai wives for contacts with local drug dealers and money laundering, he said. "More cocaine is coming from those countries and the drug has become popular in Asia," he added. Africans were among those arrested in the latest police crackdown on drug smugglers over the past week. Two male Zimbabwean nationals, aged 26 and 31, were arrested separately in Bangkok with small amounts of cocaine in their possession, along with two Thai women. An Iranian man and three Laotians - two of them women - were among the other suspected foreign smugglers arrested. The Iranian was nabbed on Thursday in the Sukhumvit area in possession of 3.6 kilograms of heroin while allegedly handing the drug to a police agent posing as a |dealer. Also on Thursday, the three Laotians were arrested in a police sting operation in Mukdahan allegedly in possession of more than 17,000 methamphetamine pills. On June 11, two Thai men were arrested in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district in possession of 44 heroin bars weighing 17kg, Watchara said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake