Drug abuses and trafficking in the far South
Besides armed inurgency which has claimed more than 4,000 lives of government officials, suspected insurgents and civilians in the past seven years, illicit drug abuses have increasingly posed a serious security and social threat in the three southernmost provinces.
According to the 9th regional office of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, the number of seizures of illicit drugs in Yala, Pattani, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkhla has been on steady rise in the past several years. In 2008, for instance, 5,297 seizures were registered. The number went up to 5,886 last year and for the first four months of this year, 2,172 cases were recorded.
Of all the narcotics drugs seized, krathom has been identified as the most popular illicit drug among youth in the region followed up by methamphetamine which is also known as “ice”, “crystal meth” or “crystal”. Narathiwat province has been fingered as the biggest transit point of methamphetamine.
In a recent exclusive interview with the Isra news desk, Mr Songkram Khamtanwong, director of ONCB’s 9th regional office, admitted that illicit drugs trafficking and abuses of the drugs by youths in the strife-torn region have been rising steadily after having dropped substantially for a short period of time when the Thaksin administration launched a fierce drugs suppression campaign.
Besides methamphetamine or Ya Ba as the drug is known locally and marijuana or kanja, krathom is most widespread in the region, said Mr Songkram.
Krathom was formerly smuggled into the region from upper southern region namely Phatthalung, Nakhon Si Thammaarat and Surat Thani provinces. But due to tough suppression drive, traffickers have shifted to Malaysia as the new source of the addictive plant. Krathom are now mostly smuggled into the South through th border points at Padang Besar in Sadao district of Songkhla and Ban Prakob in Nathawee district of Songkhla.
High demand for krathom and huge profit potential have fuelled the smuggling. The cost of one kilogramme of krathom at the source of origin ranges from 300-500 baht. Upon its arrival in Thailand, the price will go up to 1,500 baht a kilo.
As for Ya Ba, Mr Songkram said that the drug mostly originated in Laos and Burma and were smuggled across the border into Thailand and then to the far South. Lately however, some of the Ya Ba were smuggled into Malaysia and then returned to southern Thailand to make it look as if the drug originated in Malaysia.
Northern Malaysia was chosen as the transit point for Ya Ba from Thailand because the traffickers have extensive networks in Malaysia and the mountainous terrain there is ideal for storing the drug in huge amount.
Asked whether the unrest situation in the region has contributed to widespread drug abuses or increased drugs trafficking, Mr Songkram said the answer is both “yes” and “no”.
Because of the unrest situation, more security forces have been deployed down there with more checkpoints and roadblocks which have resulted to more drug seizures and arrests. In the meantime, the situation has prompted security forces to focus on dealing with the insurgency problem thus leaving the drug problem inadequately attended to, he explained.
He also noted that the trafficking pattern in the region has changed. “Previously, we knew which groups of traffickers were responsible in each specific areas and from whom we could buy the drugs. Now it is totally different. There are so many traffickers. Anyone with enough money can buy and sell drugs.”
Also, he said that prisons have become a meeting point for the traffickers to meet one another, to cultivate relationship and forge networks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Caption : methamphetamine