Drug Trafficking: Chalerm Looks To Cross-Border Help

[webfact]

DRUG TRAFFICKING

Chalerm looks to cross-border help

THE NATION

Suggests Thai authorities work in neighbouring nations to control trade

BANGKOK: -- Thailand might station military and police in Burma, Laos, Cambodia and China's Yunnan province to help with suppressing the transborder drug trade, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said yesterday.

The function of the military and police liaisons, which will be similar to military attaches at Thai missions overseas, will be to work on intelligence and crackdowns with host countries, he said after meeting with Burmese Ambassador U Ong Teng, who will be transferred back home soon.

Chalerm, who is in charge of fighting drugs, said he had asked the diplomat to help arrange for anti-narcotics officials to be assigned to work closely with Thai officials at all border checkpoints.

In his farewell message to Thai authorities, the envoy asked that Thai authorities not stand by while Thai labour and immigration officials extort Burmese migrant workers in Thailand. He also asked for a reduction in registration and identification fees for migrant Burmese to work legally in Thailand.

The Corrections Department's offensive on convicts' drug dealings continued with a surprise search of a prison in Surat Thani and a search of another in Uttaradit.

The dawn search in Surat Thani came up with a haul of contraband items and drugs, following the recent arrest of outsiders who threw mobile phones over the prison wall.

At Uttaradit prison, where more than 100 mobile phones and 9,900 amphetamine tablets were confiscated last year, the three-hour search turned up no drugs but various equipment capable of being used in jailbreaks.

Chief warden Banyat Aksorn-khonburi said a guard was dismissed and three are undergoing prosecution for their involvement in prison drug trafficking.

In Ubon Ratchathani, provincial authorities had caught lawyers smuggling items into prisons during consultations with their clients. To prevent further incidents, security cameras have been installed in visiting areas, a warden told a press launch of a local crackdown.

Recently 40 new cameras were added to the existing 30 units, |while plainclothes prison officials |are watching for any smuggling attempts and monitoring conversations and meetings between inmates and lawyers or relatives, said Chairoj Sinthuphutthipong, chief warden of the provincial prison.

A two-metre-high protective net has been raised on top of the seven-metre-high wall while 11 electric wires have been strung up in addition to the existing two, he said.

-- The Nation 2012-02-08

[Siripon]

Why is there a photo of the new Education Minister, Mr Suchart, standing on a bus on his first day to work at the Ministry?

Is he on his way to Yaowarat, Chinatown, to recruit the several thousand Chinese teachers he's said he will employ, or is he on his way to China to buy the tablet computers?

Perhaps he is connected to the above story and is on his way to try to persuade narcotic drug manufacturers in neighbouring countries to cease destroying Thai children's lives.

[FOODLOVER]

Professor by day, crime fighter by night.

[scorecard]

Professor by day, crime fighter by night.

Dear Mr. Chalerm,

The drug situation is serious and does need serious (legal) action.

Tell me when just one drug king pin / drug lord /senior police officer / senior military officer has been sentenced to a long period in jail and is not out on appeal.

Then I'll have some respect for you.

[hgma]

Why point at Chalerm all the time....the man is 6 months?? on the job.......it took the americans 10 years to find bin laden........it will take a massive internal clean up first of police and military to get to the hot shots.....

.according to me ......

He is doingin an excellent job sofar.

[LuckyLew]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

[Unkomoncents]

The title for this article should read : "Chalerm Trafficking: Drugs Seek Cross-border Help to Control Trade".

[scorecard]

Why point at Chalerm all the time....the man is 6 months?? on the job.......it took the americans 10 years to find bin laden........it will take a massive internal clean up first of police and military to get to the hot shots.....

.according to me ......

He is doingin an excellent job sofar.

I suggest you do some research on the long-term history of this man, then you might realize why the negative against him, his sons, etc.

I repeat:

Dear Mr. Chalerm,

The drug situation is serious and does need serious (legal) action.

Tell me when just one drug king pin / drug lord /senior police officer / senior military officer has been sentenced to a long period in jail and is not out on appeal.

Then I'll have some respect for you.

Edited February 8, 2012 by scorecard

[noitom]

Thailand seems to be a failed state by application of the definition. The drug and human traffickers control the government, and dozens of MPs. The army and police have been co-opted by the dealers, human traffickers, and government politicians who provide air cover for payoffs. Tin cupping around to border countries and proposing to place "government officials" inside the borders of neighboring countries, Thai partners in illicit activity, is a pointless exercise and can't be taken seriously.

[trainman34014]

Why point at Chalerm all the time....the man is 6 months?? on the job.......it took the americans 10 years to find bin laden........it will take a massive internal clean up first of police and military to get to the hot shots.....

.according to me ......

He is doingin an excellent job sofar.

Actually, Bin Laden should have hidden in Thailand. Providing he paid enough to appropriate parties he would have never been found.

[asdecas]

Why point at Chalerm all the time....the man is 6 months?? on the job.......it took the americans 10 years to find bin laden........it will take a massive internal clean up first of police and military to get to the hot shots.....

.according to me ......

He is doingin an excellent job sofar.

I suggest you do some research on the long-term history of this man, then you might realize why the negative against him, his sons, etc.

I repeat:

Dear Mr. Chalerm,

The drug situation is serious and does need serious (legal) action.

Tell me when just one drug king pin / drug lord /senior police officer / senior military officer has been sentenced to a long period in jail and is not out on appeal.

Then I'll have some respect for you.

Quite right. "Police Captain" Chalerm and his repulsive sons have quite an extensive track record. The fact that the scumbag can still become a senior minister in the highest echelons of government in Thailand is indicative of how deep the cancer is that ails the patient.

[anterian]

Amphetamines may be a problem nationally, but in my area alcohol and kratom are by far the worst, in fact everyone uses kratom. I suspect it is the stepping stone to harder drugs.

[SouthernMan3]

Amphetamines may be a problem nationally, but in my area alcohol and kratom are by far the worst, in fact everyone uses kratom. I suspect it is the stepping stone to harder drugs.

Sounds like reefer madness to me.

Most of the farmers that I know that eat kratom would never consider using harder drugs.

Ever try cutting rubber from 10pm until 3 am and then collecting starting at 8 and finishing making pens by 2 pm ?

Now alcohol, that's a whole 'nother thing entirely.....

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

Exactly...Drugs and dealers and dealing is like sunshine...It will be here as long as we are...What a schlong...Chalerm...Let's see how many ways I can B/S the people...Like the top security drug prison...Get rid of the police first...

[wintermute]

Once again I have to raise this question..when was the last time you heard of a major cartel boss getting busted in Thailand?

They found some ridiculous amount of methamphetamine crystals (at least 50+ kilos) bricked up being transported by a cartel soldier. They busted this guy and found guns, a sh*tload of cash, and id that was traced back to a rented house that (surprise surprise) was owned by some hi society big wig. Not to mention various military officials have been implicated in this. It was reported on the news for awhile but they refused to name who the big guys being investigated were and then the reports became more ambiguous and convoluted. I haven't heard any further details. It looks like some one up top was uncomfortable with getting their meth rice bowl messed with and pulled the appropriate puppet strings.

The cartel bosses are all Thai. No one traffics hundreds of kilos through a country without major border and police connections. Also, there's so much illicit cash flowing through Thailand it makes Mexico look second rate. This massive flow of illegal activity is definitely _controlled_ otherwise it would devolve quickly into the wild cartel wars that you see in central America.

Edited February 8, 2012 by wintermute

[bigbamboo]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

You'd think they'd have learned from the Prohibition years in the US. They'll be pissing in the wind.

[wintermute]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

You'd think they'd have learned from the Prohibition years in the US. They'll be pissing in the wind.

It's just a show anyways. The real cartel bosses are totally untouchable in Thailand.

[KRS1]

This won't work, i use to get drunk with one of the cambodian drug enforcement agency's members and he smokes.

[hellodolly]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

Thailand has no interest in solving problems unless it is done the Thai way.

any country that is serious would be looking at Portugal.

[Siripon]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

You'd think they'd have learned from the Prohibition years in the US. They'll be pissing in the wind.

Chalerm wants the government to be more popular before he pushes through the amnesty for Thaksin.He remembers how popular Thaksin's war on drugs was with the public, so he's trying to emulate that with less deaths.

The problem with corrupt wardens is widespread, the ex- driver of a friend of mine, rang him up from a jail in Khorat just last week, in the past he would write a letter every 2 months. My friend asked him how he could phone and he replied it was his friend's and it cost him 200,000 baht in the jail, he also said the warders would warn the prisoners in advance about any raids and searches.

[wintermute]

Why is this government so bound and determined to rid Thailand of

drug dealers, are they not smart enough to realize it is not possible

to accomplish this?

For every drug dealer arrested and jailed, there is another dealer

waiting to take his place.

All they need to do is look at the Mexico example .... it does not end

Thailand has no interest in solving problems unless it is done the Thai way.

any country that is serious would be looking at Portugal.

Right now policing is done to eliminate competitors for cartel bosses. It's similar as to what happened in Colombia back in its drug baron days. Police action was facilitated by insiders who were usually tipped off by sources who work for the cartels. The operators you see getting busted are unfortunate bottom of the barrel mules, mid level distributors, foreign gangs, or independents.

[nurofiend]

drugs go all the way from the very bottom (users, street dealers) to the very top (military, government officials) hence why the drug 'war' is ridiculous and futile.

there's too much money in illegal drugs for governments not to line their pockets to some extent.

it's a phony war with too much politics involved to ever take out the real players.. which even if they magically accomplished that!! - it would still be futile.