BANGKOK, 30 June 2012 – The government has confirmed that it is ready to eradicate narcotics. It has set goals to coordinate with China and Myanmar in this effort and will work on two new drug-related draft legislations to make the suppression more effective.
Police Captain Chalerm Yubumrung, Deputy Prime Minister, made public the drug suppression activities on today’s weekly TV program ‘The Yingluck Government Meets the People’. The suppression drive comes after the government has made drug suppression a national agenda and implemented six major measures which have proved highly effective. These are setting up checkpoints, increasing interception points, enforcing laws, and rehabilitating drug users. The objective is to have 400,000 drug users receive treatment this year.
The Deputy Prime Minister indicated that there are eight areas in the North with severe drug trafficking, particularly in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Mae Hong Son. This problem has now been set as Asean regional agenda, and will be raised for discussion with neighboring countries, such as Myanmar and China. Pol-Capt Chalerm stated that the Chinese premier will soon be traveling to Thailand, and China’s cooperation regarding this issue will be sought.
