Those Suspected Of Drug Crimes Are Now To Be Sent For Rehabilitation Rather Than To Court And A Term In Prison If Convicted. Those all-too-common newspaper and television images of drug-crazed men holding a child and/or woman hostage are expected to become a thing of the past should the new Drug Addict Rehabilitation Act help reduce the number of drug-related crimes. The Act, which came into effect on March 3, is the first of its kind in Thailand and, as such, it has been the subject of wide debate among probation officers, the police and the wider community. [continues 1328 words]
HAS OUR CONSCIENCE GONE TO SLEEP? The prime minister has decided to speak again. That's good. We cannot have a dumb prime minister. But perhaps before he speaks he should reread the constitution, specifically chapter 6 (The National Assembly), part 8 (The National Human Rights Commission), sections 199 and 200. They read, in part, as follows: "The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) consists of a President and 10 other members, appointed by the King with the advice of the Senate, from the persons having apparent knowledge and experience in the protection of rights and liberties of the people, having regard also to the participation of representatives from private organisations in the field of human rights... [continues 519 words]
Relatives of victims of drug-related murders are entitled to petition the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to investigate the killings, Vithit Muntabhorn, of Chulalongkorn University's law faculty, said yesterday. In a discussion on violence in drug suppression at the university, Prof Vithit said human rights issues were borderless. Even people of nations not in the UN could ask for justice from the UN. He urged people whose loved ones had died in the government campaign against drugs to petition the commission. [continues 125 words]
Flow of information ends as trust withers Chiang Rai police put most of their informers in jail, losing their trust, as they struggled to meet the demand they cut the number of drug dealers and users by 25% in the first month of the war on drugs. A police source said the mass arrests dealt a serious blow to the province's drug suppression operations in March, _ the target has now been raised to 50% _ because the people who could lead them to major traders were now in prison and refused to give them information. [continues 486 words]
'Big Fish' To Face Greater Pressure There will be no let-up in the anti-drugs compaign after three months and greater pressure would be exerted against large-scale drug traders, said Interior Minister Wan Muhamad Nor Matha yesterday. He said the Feb 1 campaign would not stop after three months as border drug flows required consistent efforts to stem. But Mr Wan Nor admitted the suppression drive could not be considered a success if there were still drug supplies waiting to flood in from the border. [continues 196 words]
Thai Rak Thai spokesman Suranand Vejjajiva has threatened Pradit Charoenthaithawee with impeachment after the human rights commissioner brought drug-related killings to the attention of the United Nations. The UN High Commission on Human Rights is worried about the number of people killed since the government's war on drugs began on Feb 1. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he was not worried if the UN investigated the drug deaths, but said Thais should not act as "whistle-blowers" or give away Thailand's independence. [continues 255 words]
Few people take criticism well. Since it usually involves unfavourable comment, the apportioning of blame for a fault, or passing judgment on our ability, decisions or actions, even the most confident of us recoil at the thought of being the subject of criticism. Indeed sages say that men rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. The value of criticism is priceless however. No open society can function without it. At its best, it puts the supposed merits of a thing to the test of intelligent discourse. At worse, it degenerates into little more than exchanges of verbal abuse. But the true value of criticism in a democracy is that it ensures a healthy society. Criticism asks those we put in power what they propose to do with our lives. It lends validity to the democratic process. [continues 504 words]
Thaksin should hand the UN Thai newspapers with translations to show it the level of press freedom in Thailand. Thaksin should also show the UN a picture of the meeting of press people celebrating Journalists Day on March 5 and identify the people in it. The UN would see for itself that the meeting was full of critics of the government. Even someone from the opposition was accorded a seat at the head of the table. Concerning people's fear of the government, the UN should be shown the results of polls that show people aren't living in fear, and actually do support the government crackdown on the drug trade, even after a month of criticism from the Human Rights Commission. Tavivoot [end]
`Superiority Complex' Behind Border Closure Cambodian leaders say Thailand's war on drugs and its ``superiority complex'' forced Phnom Penh to close its border with its bigger neighbour on Wednesday. Prime Minister Hun Sen told the opening of a health centre in Siem Reap yesterday that it was not safe for his countrymen to cross to Thailand because they might be killed in the anti-drug campaign. ``Thai soldiers have killed more than 1,000 people and arrested more than 10,000,'' Hun Sen said. ``I am very concerned about Cambodian people who go into Thai territory. They might get shot dead because of the Thai drug operations.'' [continues 503 words]
Agencies Not Passing Over Information The National Centre to Defeat Drugs is having trouble getting information because most state agencies have not bothered to send in reports in the last month. The agencies preferred to report direct to their bosses even though NCDD chairman, Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, had told them to report to the centre. ``Little information comes to us each day and what we do get lacks depth. ``We know that agencies are withholding information because they are competing with one another,'' a source at the centre said. [continues 165 words]
The Crime Suppression Division will ask the national police chief to investigate the shooting of a couple in Phetchabun, after their son asked the prime minister to intervene. CSD investigators have been looking into the slaying of Thanom Montha, 49, and Kwanla Puangchompu, 40, after their son, Suwit Baison, 23, an employee at Channel 11, lodged the petition last week. The CSD will ask Pol Gen Sant Sarutanont, the national police chief, to investigate. Police at Na Chaliang have started inquiries. [continues 138 words]
Smugglers could turn to using small planes now the army has moved to seal tight the northern border, Third Army commander Lt-Gen Udomchai Ongkhasingh said yesterday. The possibility had been raised by the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, given the increased difficulty of bringing drugs into Thailand by land. The United Wa State Army, or Red Wa, the leading drug producers and traffickers on the Burmese side had recently opened five new methamphetamine plants along the Mekong river opposite Chiang Rai's Chiang Saen district and three more opposite Tak. [continues 130 words]
Amnesty International has called on Thailand to protect the country's top human rights official who claimed to have received death threats since reporting on the country's violent anti-drug campaign to the United Nations. Dr Pradit Charoenthaitawee, a national human rights commissioner, said he had received several telephoned death threats but vowed to continue doing his job. The London-based human rights group said in a statement yesterday that the Thai government "should do everything in its power to provide protection to Dr Pradit and his family'' and "should immediately initiate an investigation into these repeated death threats.'' [continues 144 words]
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has jumped to the defence of one of its members who was threatened with impeachment after speaking to the United Nations about the ongoing war on drugs. Pradit Charoenthaithawee was threatened with impeachment by Thai Rak Thai spokesman Suranand Vejjajiva after speaking to the world body about the government's drug blacklists, extra-judicial killings, and an alleged failure to bring to court cases involving drug-related deaths. Dr Pradit subsequently denied a Foreign Ministry report claiming he had asked Asma Jahangir of the UN Human Rights Commission to investigate drug-related deaths in Thailand. [continues 188 words]
Troops Redeployed Amid Pill Influx Fears The army has been told to seal the border with Burma to stop drugs getting in. Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told the military, police and local administration officials to work together in their drug suppression drive on the border with Burma, the main drug route, to prevent a new influx of methamphetamines. Defence Minister Gen Thammarak Issarangura na Ayudhya said Mr Thaksin was worried trafficking might increase given the shortage of methamphetamines inside the country since the campaign began. [continues 379 words]
Whether the drug killings are the work of gangsters or police, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and law enforcement authorities can not escape responsibility for failing to ensure public safety, a former deputy police chief said yesterday. The death spree had turned Thailand into a society of fear, Pol Gen Vasit Dejkunchorn said. ''Even worse, more women have become victims. The killings are not limited to men any more,'' he said in a speech on the lessons of extra-judicial killing at the Princess Sirindhorn Anthropology Centre. [continues 231 words]
As a regular listener to the BBC World Service, I can report that the main news bulletins for the last week or so have never failed to carry an item on the war on drugs. The BBC has never reported in judgmental fashion but with facts and figures speaking for themselves. I have to contrast the current situation with a couple of months ago, when the government was telling the world in general, and intending visitors in particular, that it was perfectly safe to come to the kingdom as there was no such thing as terrorism. [continues 89 words]
Opposition, Activists Take Thaksin To Task Opposition politicians and human rights activists yesterday accused the government of using extra-legal means to kill drug suspects while playing to the public's emotion by citing the welfare of children to justify it. Abhisit Vejjajiva, the Democrat party deputy leader, said Thaksin Shinawatra was twisting the issue by branding anyone who did not agree with his policy to ``kill off'' drug suspects as ignoring the needs of Thai children. ``Today we can all see if Mr Thaksin is a democratic man or not. His fierce attacks of critics have him using words that are more and more unreasonable. He runs the country using his personal satisfaction as a yardstick rather than what is right and lawful,'' Mr Abhisit said. [continues 433 words]
Says Children Should Come Before Dealers Defending his war against drugs, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday urged Thailand not to pay so much attention to the rising death toll that they lost sight of the ``big picture''. ``One of the flaws in our society is that we rarely look at the big picture. If we do, we'll be able to gauge what is right and what's wrong,'' he said during his weekly radio address. Mr Thaksin said the big picture was that between 700,000 and one million children used drugs, and that in only one month, 220,000 drug pushers had surrendered, with more to come. [continues 511 words]
The special rapporteur on extra-judicial, summary or arbitrary executions of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Asma Jahangir, has expressed deep concern at the many deaths in Thailand's war on drugs. Ms Jahangir has urged Thai authorities to ensure law enforcement and security officials carry out their duties in strict compliance with national and international human rights, and in particular that "the strict limits on the use of lethal force, as stipulated under the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law-enforcement Officials, are followed rigorously and without exception". She also called on authorities to carry out transparent and independent investigations into each death. [continues 304 words]
