PUBLISHED: 21 Jan 2025 at 04 :00
The state will announce a complete, multi-agency strategy to overcome the trafficking of cocaine on Jan 30, Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said yesterday.
Mr Phumtham made the announcement after former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra– who is commonly believed to be the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai Party– promised at a new campaign rally in the Northeast that the state will get timely actions against online fraud syndicates and medication traffickers this year.
Mr Phumtham, who is also defence minister in Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government, even said the PM had instructed him to come up with methods to curb the government’s growing drug problem.
” The state is serious about stamping out illegal medications. What we plan to do is to address the problem at its source,” he said, referring to cocaine production outposts outside of the state.
But, inter-agency and diplomatic assistance will have to be strengthened for such an activity to succeed, he noted.
In the approaching time, representatives from the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, the armed troops and other related companies will match to pick up the plan.
When the plan is drawn up, it will be announced on Jan 30 by Ms Paetongtarn, Mr Phumtham said.
Drug smuggling is difficult to eradicate fully because Thailand’s borders with its neighbours are somewhat porous– especially along the Mekong River– giving traffickers lot of alternatives to bypass official border checkpoints.
The deputy prime minister admitted that intelligence gathering needs to be improved before adding one way to improve intelligence gathering capabilities is by bringing in the right technology and tools for the job.
Patrolling officers, for instance, won’t be able to cover all areas along the border. But with the right tools, they can cover the right place at the right time, forming a “double wall” against drug traffickers, he said.
This approach must be implemented in 51 districts across 14 provinces which lie on the western and eastern borders, where drug smuggling is known to be a problem.
He said officials who are considered to be unfit to secure the border will be reassigned to other posts, and district chiefs must do what they can to facilitate drug suppression in border areas under their jurisdiction.