| Drugs: Thai PM blames Yangon
Chuan Leekpai hits out at Myanmar's lack of cooperation in stemming
the inflow of drugs, alleging that the latest haul comes from Myanmar
BANGKOK -- Thai Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai yesterday blamed the
Myanmar authorities for soaring drug-addiction rates among youth because
of their lack of cooperation in stemming the inflow of illicit drugs.
The criticism follows the discovery by police here of two hauls
totalling 3.8 million amphetamine tablets allegedly manufactured by ethnic
Wa insurgents in eastern Myanmar.
"I have instructed the national police chief to find more effective
measures to intercept drugs as this haul has proved that international
cooperation was useless," Mr Chuan told reporters.
"From the report it is clear that the drug belongs to the Wa, so the
drugs certainly came from outside Thailand," he said.
"I have made the observation that the arrests were accidental. How can
that quantity of the drugs have slipped past the authorities' eyes."
Although Mr Chuan did not directly name Myanmar, Yangon has repeatedly
vowed to cooperate with neighbouring Thailand to clamp down on the illicit
cross-border trade.
Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan received an assurance of
cooperation while in Yangon in August at a meeting with powerful junta
First Secretary Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt.
Thai officials have blamed the United Wa State Army for trafficking
hundreds of millions of amphetamine tablets made in jungle laboratories
across the border.
Critics of the Myanmar regime accuse it of allowing the Wa insurgents
to continue trading drugs in return for a ceasefire.
Many believe the junta also profits financially from the trade, a
charge Yangon's generals deny.
Myanmar is one of the world's biggest producers of heroin along with
Afghanistan and is accused of hosting hundreds of amphetamine factories
along its border with Thailand.
Meanwhile, Thailand reportedly has more than 600,000 child drug
addicts.
Researchers from Chulalongkorn University's Education Centre for the
Underprivileged recently found that children made up more than 50 per cent
of total drug arrests and up to 80 per cent of cases in the juvenile court
related to amphetamines.
In Bangkok, amphetamine use is rampant in the slums. In Klong Toey port
slum -- home to 100,000 taxi drivers, stall holders, dockers and the
unemployed -- amphetamines known as Ya Baa are widely consumed by users
who need to stay awake for long working shifts. -- AFP |