Stricter measures to suppress drug trafficking along Eastern border area

The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) has set up eight more Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) to prevent and suppress drug trafficking along the border areas.

Atthaphon Sayomphak (อรรถพล สยมภาค), the director of ONCB Region 2, disclosed that the eight BLOs are situated at provinces in the Eastern region including Trat, Chanthaburi, and Sa Kaeo.

BLOs are fully equipped and work in close cooperation with the neighboring countries in the East. They are outlining plans to prevent and suppress drugs for the year 2007.

In the meantime, Pol.Maj.Gen.Niwat Rattanathamwat (นิวัต รัตนาธรรมวัฒน์), the commander of the Trat Provincial Police, said BLOs serve as a center to exchange information regarding drug trafficking between Thailand and the neighboring countries, especially Cambodia.

The commander expects that BLOs will help improve the drug situation along the eastern border area.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 22 January 2007

mmm... we shall see.

When I was last in Sakaeo one drug dealer was openly laughing at the fact he was making money again, with the full knowledge of the military, and with the police powerless to stop him. Nobody else around the table seemed to share in his good humour.

Maybe this is yet another part of the on-going police v military power struggle, and a chance for the police to claim publicly that they are back in control.

As a complete aside but to bring some levity to what could be a heavy thread, the above gentleman's good humour soon suffered a little prick. he asked me if I had any condoms, as he had a date lined up, to which I replied in the negative. Ten minutes later he asked me again, perhaps assuming I was likely to have manufactured one for him, or, more likely, because he'd already forgotten that he'd already asked me. At that point I enquired,"Maybe your lady friend has one!" I could hear the mental machinery of the other people churning through the consequences of this statement, until 5 seconds later they all fell about in a heap laughing

rych