PUBLISHED: 9 Oct 2024 at 18:50
House Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha has called for Asean to engage more strongly in tackling cocaine, one of the main causes of crime in the country, saying Thailand is ready to play a major part.
A parliamentary delegation led by Mr Wan attended a meeting of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly ( AIPA ) on Wednesday in Vientiane, where this year’s Asean summit is also taking place.
Mr Wan was accompanied by his assistant, Dumrong Poottan, who even serves as an assistant to the Thai group.
Mr Wan presented the ideas put forward by the party during the meeting to Asean officials on Wednesday evening. He underscored the importance of addressing global and regional issues that have worsened since the Covid-19 epidemic, including economic recessions and climate-related catastrophe.
Asean needs to develop stronger economic ties and work on crisis protection, such as the storm problems late faced by Thailand, he said.
Mr Wan highlighted the need for joint understanding in international social problems, such as the Ukraine-Russia discord and the Israel-Palestine circumstance, which, though far, have implications in the Asean area.
He said the drug issue is one of the most pressing problems in Thailand, with 70-80 % of atrocities linked to substance abuse or another drug-related things. He said he had consulted Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and agreed to consider Asean-wide participation on combating this scourge.