We Are All Culpable For The Complete Failure Of The Government's Policy On Narcotics

In the first quarter of 2003 the then government of Thaksin Shinawatra launched a bloody "war on drugs" that resulted in the deaths of some 2,500 people.

The vast majority were said to have been extra-judicial killings but the police insisted that these were murders to silence possible informers.

The fact that the public supported the bloody campaign reflected the weaknesses of our society, which often presents itself as just and open. Embarrassed by bad publicity and criticism from the international community, the then government put the brakes on the bloody campaign. Aware of the fact that the controversial campaign was seen as a winner among the general public, the new government has toyed with the idea of resurrecting it. But Interior chief Chalerm Yubamrung hasn't said anything about matching the body count of the 2003 campaign.

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The Thaksin Shinawatra government will never fully recover from the crushing assault to its name for waging a war on drugs, and this government must think carefully before launching a new drugs offensive.

At the cost of 2,500-plus lives, the 2003 campaign was trumpeted by supporters who said it had pulled down the floodgates on the torrents of drugs flowing into, through and throughout the country.

In the process, it splatteed blood on the country's human rights record, as some human rights advocates have phrased it.

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The new Thai Government is to relaunch the country's "war on drugs" which killed more than 2500 people allegedly involved in the trade. During a three-month killing spree in 2003 thousands named on police "black lists" were shot dead, allegedly on government orders.

Yet the government's narcotics control board concluded that more than half the victims had no involvement in drugs. One couple from north-eastern Thailand was shot dead after coming into unexplained wealth. They were, in fact, lottery winners.

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BANGKOK - The new Thai government is to relaunch the country's "war on drugs" which killed more than 2,500 people allegedly involved in the trade.

During a three-month killing spree in 2003 as intense as a full-scale armed conflict, thousands named on police "black lists" were shot dead, allegedly on government orders.

Yet the government's narcotics control board concluded that more than half the victims had no involvement in drugs. One couple from northeastern Thailand were shot dead after coming into unexplained wealth and being added to a black list. They were, in fact, lottery winners.

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Jon Says Future's Bleak For Human Rights Here

Human rights in Thailand will not improve with an elected government back in power as there are structural flaws embedded with authoritarianism, a rights advocate said yesterday. Jon Ungphakorn, a well-known rights activist and former senator, said bureaucracy as well as police and army officers were at the core of human rights problems in Thailand.

The Thaksin administration gave the nod to extrajudicial killings in its notorious war on drugs, there were forced disappearances and extensive use of force, while the Council of National Security also curbed conventional and alternative media, Mr Jon said.

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More Victims Of BPP Gang Come Forward

Five more people yesterday said they were innocent victims of a gang of Border Patrol Police (BPP) officers led by Nat Chonnithiwanit, claiming the gang forced them to make false confessions to drug charges and extorted money from them. The gang is facing prosecution for allegedly extorting money from their victims and torturing them into confessing to drug trafficking charges.

Chaiwiwat Bunkua, a 33-year-old from Phuket, lodged a complaint with Crime Suppression police yesterday, saying Pol Capt Nat's gang had physically assaulted and detained him and his two friends in September 2006.

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Focus / Narcotics Suppression

The new government's plan to launch its own "war on drugs" may please supporters of coalition leader People Power, a party believed to be the reincarnation of ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's disbanded Thai Rak Thai. But those opposed to the move - human rights defenders, community leaders and anti-drugs officials - are far from thrilled. The first war on drugs declared by the government of Mr Thaksin from Feb 1 to April 30, 2003 resulted in the deaths of over 2,500 so-called drug suspects. It caused an uproar among human rights activists, who viewed the crusade as giving law enforcement authorities a licence to kill, without allowing suspects recourse to due process of the law.

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Back on the Offensive

The New Government Is Unlikely to Offer a Ceasefire. A New Crackdown Looms

NO POLICY pushed by Thaksin Shinawatra, the Thai prime minister toppled in a coup in 2006, provoked as much controversy--or won as many votes--as a bloody 2003 campaign against illegal drugs. Faced with soaring methamphetamine abuse, Mr Thaksin ordered the police to draw up blacklists of suspected traffickers and "to act decisively and without mercy". The result was a shooting spree in which over 2,500 people died in three months. The police blamed gang violence; human-rights groups accused the government of condoning extra-judicial killings by the security forces.

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Investigators' Final Report Blames No One

Nakhon Ratchasima - The inquiry into the extra-judicial killings during the war on drugs by those serving under the Thaksin Shinawatra government has found no evidence which would enable the punishment of those involved, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday. More than 2,500 people are believed to have been killed.

Gen Surayud said he had just received a final report from panel chairman Khanit na Nakhon stating that no one could be held to blame for the killings.

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In 03, A Violent Government Anti-Drug Campaign Resulted In More Than 2,500 Deaths

Reporter Simon Montlake Discusses Thailand's Past Efforts To Eradicate Methamphetamine Smuggling.

Bangkok, Thailand - By Day, Bangkok's Largest Slum Broils Under A Scorching Sun. Schoolchildren In Crisp Uniforms Scuttle Past Sidewalk Food Vendors. But At Night, Say Local Activists, The Dockside Lanes Of Khlong Toey Belong To Peddlers Of Methamphetamine Pills, Known To Thais As Ya Ba, Or Crazy Medicine.

Wanlop Hirikul, A Community Leader And Radio Broadcaster, Has Been Here Before. Until 03, His District Was Overrun With Dealers Hawking Meth Pills. Then Came A Violent But Popular Antidrug Campaign Led By Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra That Disrupted Trafficking Networks And Forced Tens Of Thousands Of Addicts Into Rehabilitation Camps.

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As Thais rejoice over the 4x100 SEA Games gold medal in the women's relay event, police are fretting over the 4x100 formula, a drugs cocktail popular in the deep South.

The illegal mixture is made by brewing kratom leaves (mitragyna speciosa) in hot water and then mixing the dark green juice with a soft drink, cough syrup and tranquilisers. The popular cocktail has been named "4 times 100".

The origin of the name is unclear, but it likely came from its four ingredients.

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A Shake-Up Plan For Thailand's Law-Enforcement Body May Be This Govt's Only Chance To Leave A Lasting Legacy

The interim Surayud government made known its intention to reform the Royal Thai Police shortly after it came to power last year. Making police reform a priority issue is consistent with the government's promise to clean up politics, strengthen the rule of law and reduce corruption. A national committee, comprising former police chiefs, criminal justice experts, academics and civil rights advocates, was set up in November last year to find ways to revamp the 200,000-strong national police force. Since its formation, the committee has produced a blueprint for police reform complete with plans to restructure the present cumbersome organisational set-up and to make the Royal Thai Police more accountable to the public. The committee's reform proposal has been widely debated at various public forums organised by members of civil society groups, who rightly consider themselves key stakeholders in this long-overdue reform effort.

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Veteran politician Chalerm Yubamrung recently joined the People Power Party (PPP) and is seen as its number two. Over the past month, he has expressed his ambition to become interior minister and revive the Thaksin Shinawatra government's controversial war on drugs, which led to the deaths of more than 2,500 people in alleged extra-judicial killings by police. Surasak Glahan asked him how he plans to revive the policy. Below are excerpts from the interview.

Do you intend to use the same heavy-handed approach applied by the Thaksin administration?

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The twin revelations last week that opium growing has increased again, not only in Burma but in Thailand, must provide new impetus to government plans to fight this scourge.

New Deputy Prime Minister Sonthi Boonyaratkalin grabbed the issue instantly, claiming that it is necessary to have martial law to fight the drug problem. As questionable as that is, it is clear that authorities have to step up and address this serious security problem.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle has grown nearly 50% in just a year. The lion's share is in the Shan State of Burma, but far too much -- 1,400 rai -- is in Thailand, mostly in Chiang Mai, where opium acreage has doubled in just two years. Authorities blame this on teenage entrepreneurs, attracted by the obscene profit possibilities.

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Thaksin's Drugs War Policy Under Scrutiny

An independent committee looking into alleged extra-judicial killings during the 2003 war on drugs has agreed to examine Thaksin Shinawatra's cabinet meetings to find out more about the drugs war policy blamed for more than 2,500 deaths. A source close to the committee said the members deemed it necessary to study and analyse what was discussed during the cabinet meetings at the time.

According to the source, the minutes of the meetings might offer clues as to how the policy laid down by deposed prime minister Thaksin turned violent.

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Chiang Rai - The amount of drugs being smuggled across the northern border has increased because of weak cooperation between the various drug suppression agencies, Wattanachai Chaimuanwong, security adviser to the prime minister, said yesterday.

He had received complaints from parents that drugs, especially speed pills, had begun turning up again in big cities, including Bangkok. They were also given to teenagers in the far South to lure them into joining the insurgency.

Gen Wattanachai believed the resurgence in drug trafficking was the result of a lack of systematic cooperation between police, soldiers and officials of drug suppression agencies.

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In its first meeting yesterday, an independent committee looking into 2,569 drug-related killings during the first Thaksin Shinawatra government laid out its work agenda and officially appointed heads of six sub-panels.

The 12-member committee, headed by former attorney-general Khanit na Nakhon, repeated that it was authorised to prosecute anyone found to be involved in the killings and would mainly perform a fact-finding role and work out compensatory solutions for relatives of the victims.

Former senator Kraisak Chonhavan, who heads the sub-panel on research and international public relations, said it was better late than never for the committee to be set up.

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The Justice Ministry is setting up a special committee to study the Thaksin government's war on drugs and its impact on innocent victims, so that proper financial help can be extended to them and their families.

Deputy justice permanent secretary Charnchao Chaiyanukij said the secretary-general of the Office of the Prime Minister sent a letter to the ministry last week instructing it to set up the committee.

Mr Charnchao said the ministry had invited former attorney-general Khanit na Nakhon to chair the panel.

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Dear former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra: This is not a letter from hell. However, it doesn't matter where I live, or to be exact, where I'm drifting.

Just wanna say "Hi", although you surely don't even know me. We have something in common despite the big difference between us: I'm dead, literally, and you're still alive.

I have been a wandering ghost since police gunned me down in 2003, and I guess you, too, now know how it feels to be a drifter. Again, having to float from one spirit house to another in search of boiled eggs is a far cry from dining and lunching at Harrods or having the world's best roasted duck every other day. But I just want to give you my sympathy all the same.

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Unstable political situations in neighbouring countries have caused ethnic minorities to produce more methamphetamine tablets to be sold in Thailand, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) said yesterday. ONCB secretary-general Kitti Limchaikij said the methamphetamine problem has returned. Although the problem may not be as serious as in the past, it could get worse if officials turn a blind eye to it.

Faced with an uncertain future, ethnic minorities in neighbouring countries are producing more methamphetamines in order to make money to fund their own development schemes, and their main market is Thailand, he said.

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