The Minister of Justice has appealed to Southeast Asian nations to combine their efforts to rid the Golden Triangle of drug production during the 37th meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD).
In his opening remarks Saturday, Justice Minister Gen Paibul Koomchaya highlighted the need for ASEAN nations to remove the Golden Triangle from the world’s list of narcotic production bases.
Located in the joint border area of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, the Golden Triangle is among the world’s three largest drug-producing sites. Gen Paibul commented that ASEAN members, donor nations and agencies should increase the number of shared projects to clampdown on narcotics production.
Gen Paibul voiced appreciation of the Safe Mekong Project which entails collaborative drug interception by Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and China, adding that the Thai government would seek ASEAN members’ approval to include the issue in the new ASEAN operation plan for the next 10 years.
Meanwhile, Advisor to the National Narcotics Board Ratchaneekorn Sornsiri and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Manop Kanato from Khon Kaen University debuted the ASEAN Drug Monitoring Report 2015. Initiated by Thailand, the report contains narcotics-related information from across the ASEAN region to enable member countries to anticipate trends in drug trade and look for ways to stem the problem together.
