ade100 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I have been reading on TV and various other publications about Khun Samak and his band of merry men wanting to launch the War on Drugs Version 2.0. I hear version 1.0, which was rolled out in 2003, involved a fair amount of slaughter of innocent people: “the government's narcotics control board concluded that more than half the victims had no involvement in drugs” (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...23/wthai123.xml) I am just wondering what the story was in Phuket. Perhaps being a tourist area the killing was kept to a minimum or perhaps people were being gunned down on the beaches and the streets of Patong. Anyone who was around in 2003, do you have any comments from the era? Anyone any comments on what we can expect in Phuket during the next war on drugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seonai Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 No concessions for tourist areas Ade, in fact it was probably worse in Phuket and Pattaya. Police did what they liked. Lots killed. I was arrested with another TV member while having a drink in a late night bar in Karon and drug tests done etc led to many jailings. That's just the tip of the iceberg though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 How was it ?? Harder to score !!! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seonai Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What's your point LivininLOS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geriatrickid Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Although folks may want to say 2003 was crackdown no. I, these things have been going on since the 60's back when the heroin trade and the communist insurgency were interchangeable. As much as I resent the complete trampling of civil rights and privacy when some cop depends a random urine test, I understand why they have to initiate a visible response asap. Heroin addiction is at an all time high, there's a yaba epidemic and it should come as no surprise to anyone that there's a rise in robberies, muggings and petty theft to help pay for those drugs. I'd like to take comfort in my smug belief that since I don't use drugs for recreational purposes, I'm safe but I think this time it's going to be especially rough. Combine a real threat from the drugs, economic hardship, corruption that's gone unchecked and we have the recipe for lots of shakedowns and shootouts. The drug dealers are crazier than ever and will fight back. The police will be scared so they'll be shooting first and asking questions later. Lots of innocent people will get caught in the crossfire. The drug money is so plentiful, the corruption so ingrained that it will be the weakest people that are squeezed. One routine that I expect will probably be repeated often is that marginal looking tourists caught by the pee patrol will be specifically asked when they are leaving Thailand. Those that are closest to departure dates will be carted off to the cells and told hey we found drugs on you and now you are in trouble. You're going away for a long time. Of course the tourists will be desperate to make that flight and offer whatever they can to get away, even though they may very well not be guilty. The luchre will be paid and the tourists will leave the country only to be replaced by another person. I think some people from the early 90's will understand the scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigSnake Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 It was bad News all over the Country, now look like it will return under this new Government, a Shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What's your point LivininLOS ahhh humour.. Sometimes so hard to communicate.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinginKata Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What's your point LivininLOS ahhh humour.. Sometimes so hard to communicate.. It's NOT a funny subject for many folks .... hence the lack of understanding (or communication) of what you wrote ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketsub Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 There were actually two 3-month "War on Drugs" episodes. The incident I remember most clearly was the little girl who was shot by mistake a pair of motorcycle assassins in a restaurant near Suan Luang (see below) There were many similar reports and the fact that almost all of these were carried out in broad daylight with the same modus operandi (two guys arrive on a motorbike, the pillion rider is the shooter) hardly supports the theory that were drug dealers 'turning on each other'. From Phuket Gazette of Wednesday, February 26, 2003 Child wounded as hitmen kill neighbor PHUKET TOWN: A four-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder as hitmen murdered a man in what police say they suspect was another drug-related execution yesterday afternoon. Bullets hit pig keeper Jaruek Sae Tan, 35, in the chest, chin, back, neck and head and he died outside a no-name restaurant on Chao Fa Nai Rd, behind the Suan Luang Park, about 2:30 pm. The girl, Benz, the daughter of a neighbor, was also hit once. She was rushed to Wachira Phuket Hospital, where she was recovering today. Police say no motive has been established but that they believe the shooting was probably the lastest in a wave of killings and attempted killings as drugs chieftains set out to silence underlings who might be tempted to spill all they know to police in the face of the government crusade against drugs. K. Jaruek’s sister, Thitima Sae Tan, 32, said her brother had told police about a black car with different licence plates in front and back that cruised around the neighborhood streets two or three times on Monday. Police spoke to the people in the car but found nothing suspicious. She said that her brother was sitting watching TV yesterday afternoon in front of the restaurant when two men rode up on a red Honda Wave motorcycle with no plates and parked nearby. From a distance of about four meters, the pillion passenger, wearing sunglasses, fired five shots at K. Jaruek’s back. The pair then fled. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said that so far there are no suspects. Meanwhile, local politician Supachai Rakmit, shot by hitmen in broad daylight on February 15 in Phuket Town, is reported to be recovering in Wachira Phuket Hospital from wounds to his face, neck and leg. Some figures for the second one are here: Phuket Provincial Statistics Office summarized Phuket’s success rate in the second War on Drugs – which ran from October 1 to December 3, 2003 – as follows: - Seven suspects died - 17 government officials were arrested - 299 suspected dealers were arrested - 9 million baht in assets were seized from 14 gangs and 17 individuals - 1,074 users began rehabilitation courses - 7,791 people vowed to be drug-free - 103 villages and 37 communities were declared “drug-free” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12xu Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What's your point LivininLOS ahhh humour.. Sometimes so hard to communicate.. It's NOT a funny subject for many folks .... hence the lack of understanding (or communication) of what you wrote ... LivinLOS's comments may be too lighthearted for some, but they do raise a good point: before the drug war ya bah pills had gotten so dirt cheap that people were eating them like candy...with the inevitable result. I think even most recreational users would agree that being able to buy 10 for 1,000 baht is a recipe for social disaster... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LivinLOS Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 (edited) What's your point LivininLOS ahhh humour.. Sometimes so hard to communicate.. It's NOT a funny subject for many folks .... hence the lack of understanding (or communication) of what you wrote ... LivinLOS's comments may be too lighthearted for some, but they do raise a good point: before the drug war ya bah pills had gotten so dirt cheap that people were eating them like candy...with the inevitable result. I think even most recreational users would agree that being able to buy 10 for 1,000 baht is a recipe for social disaster... And to think they used to be sold in Petrol stations for long distance truckers !!! Didnt it only get made illegal in mid 70's ?? So from for sale over the counter to shooting the population over it.. Thats a sane approach to a social problem !! Edited February 27, 2008 by LivinLOS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phuketsub Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 What's your point LivininLOS ahhh humour.. Sometimes so hard to communicate.. It's NOT a funny subject for many folks .... hence the lack of understanding (or communication) of what you wrote ... LivinLOS's comments may be too lighthearted for some, but they do raise a good point: before the drug war ya bah pills had gotten so dirt cheap that people were eating them like candy...with the inevitable result. I think even most recreational users would agree that being able to buy 10 for 1,000 baht is a recipe for social disaster... And to think they used to be sold in Petrol stations for long distance truckers !!! Didnt it only get made illegal in mid 70's ?? So from for sale over the counter to shooting the population over it.. Thats a sane approach to a social problem !! I am not sure about that, but I have heard that Heroin started out as an over-the-counter pain reliever by Bayer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seonai Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Heroin (Morphine) is a pain relief drug for the most serious of pains Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geriatrickid Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 Heroin (Morphine) is a pain relief drug for the most serious of pains I remember that codeine was in kiddie cold remedies right up to the 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seonai Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 On the island I was living on until a year ago I was buying cough mixture with opium in it ... and I wondered why I felt weird and sort of distanced... stopped taking it when I found out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
endure Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 As an off-topic aside prior to the 1967 Dangerous Drugs Act in the UK there were a small number of heroin addicts who obtained their supplies from their local GP with no problems. There was very little drug associated crime. The 1967 DD Act restricted the supply of heroin to psychiatrists and clinics. Most petty crime in the UK is now drug-related. I think that's what is called an own goal in the footy world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seonai Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If the thread just above/below this one is anything to go by Endure the second 'war' has already begun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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