Thai forces shoot dead seven drug suspects

[Lite Beer]

Thai forces shoot dead seven drug suspects

BANGKOK, April 12, 2014 (AFP) - Thai security forces shot dead seven suspected drug smugglers and seized hundreds of thousands of methamphetamine pills after a firefight in the Golden Triangle border region, an official said Saturday.

The clash broke out late Friday in the mountains of northern Chiang Rai province after a border patrol spotted about 10 hill tribe people who refused to stop after crossing the frontier, according to the authorities.

"When we cleared the clash site we found seven men shot dead and we seized six bags of methamphetamine," a local border task force official said by telephone, adding that each bag contained an estimated 100,000 tablets.

"Sporadic shooting continued through the night," said the official, who did not want to be named.

Clashes between security forces and drug traffickers are fairly common in the kingdom's border regions including in the Golden Triangle, where the remote edges of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.

Thailand has seen a marked increase in seizures of methamphetamine, which is relatively cheap and easy to make.

Known as yaba -- "crazy medicine" -- the pills are often smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar where armed rebels use profits from narcotics to fund their operations.

There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Thailand.

General Pongsapat Pongcharoen, commander of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the traffickers probably wanted to take advantage of Thailand's Songkran New Year holiday which starts this weekend.

"They thought that police are busy directing traffic or taking days off during the holidays but in fact we intensify the crackdown during this period," he said.

"This fatal incident may deter them for a while but it will not root out the drugs problem," he added.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-04-12

[retell]

600.000 users , again how many minivan taxis are there ?

[Bluespunk]

"There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Thailand."

Really? Is that all? I mean its a lot, but just about every story around crime and a lot of road incidents seem to involve yaba

[justaphase]

I think 1 in 60 was nearer the mark for yaba use in Thailand i remember reading a few years ago.

Edited April 12, 2014 by justaphase

[Tom420]

I think 1 in 60 was nearer the mark for yaba use in Thailand i remember reading a few years ago.

This report suggests around 1 in 100..

[Lite Beer]

Seven heavily-armed drug traffickers were killed in a fierce 30-minute clash with soldiers from the Pamuang Field Force in Mae Fah Luang district of Chiang Rai province Friday night.

600,000 methamphetamine pills valued over 180 million baht were found on backpacks of six slain traffickers.
The clash broke when soldiers on patrol near the Doi Mae Salong encountered a drug caravan and order was given to the traffickers to stop for search. They opened fire at soldiers and were retaliated.

Since it was still dark, soldiers radioed for reinforcement to inspect the scene this morning.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/36272/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=36272

-- Thai PBS 2014-04-12

[baxida]

"There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Thailand."

Should say " There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Bangkok alone"

[lomatopo]

Thai security forces

Is this the Army, or a branch thereof, or part of the RTP?

There is subsequent mention of "border patrol" and "Office of the Narcotics Control Board", and even "soldiers".

[transam]

Thai security forces

Is this the Army, or a branch thereof, or part of the RTP?

There is subsequent mention of "border patrol" and "Office of the Narcotics Control Board", and even "soldiers".

If a river border the Thai Navy deals with it. Land border, I assume the Army does. Captives are handed over to the Police. My Thai Navy chum does this type of work.

[FangFerang]

I think 1 in 60 was nearer the mark for yaba use in Thailand i remember reading a few years ago.

I remember that story, and that would put the users at about 1 million. Still seems conservative. I would believe a million users in the capital alone.

[MobileContent]

I read somewhere that Thailand has a few hundred thousand villages. A very conservative number would be 3-5 addicts in each village plus on top you add the big cities so I believe the number should be 1 - 2 million plus at least another 100-300,000 dealers.

[LuckyLew]

Is Chalerm in charge of the security forces?

[BillyBobThai]

I wonder if when these drugs are disposed of, does anyone do a recount? Gut feeling is there are a few missing.

[laislica]

Seven smugglers shot dead, 6 bags of drugs.

Where is the seventh bag of 100,000 pills?

[kieran2698]

600,000 Yaba users may be a conservative estimate, I really have no idea, but of course there are also the many Ice users, Yaba (d-methamphetamine) is not Ice (methamphetamine hcl). A lot of Yaba users move on to Ice due to an increase in tolerance and their desire to achieve the same 'high'. Unfortunately, Ice is extremely destructive and users deteriorate much faster than Yaba which is already a very dangerous drug.

[slygeeza]

I wonder if when these drugs are disposed of, does anyone do a recount? Gut feeling is there are a few missing.

you can be sure it will all be burnt, after being sold for 200b a tab of course

Edited April 12, 2014 by slygeeza

[Wordworx]

[self-deleted] Not enough info to comment.

Edited April 12, 2014 by Wordworx

[soalbundy]

Seven smugglers shot dead, 6 bags of drugs.

Where is the seventh bag of 100,000 pills?

Tut tut tut tut,you naughty little monkey,...............sold already!

[kieran2698]

Seven smugglers shot dead, 6 bags of drugs.

Where is the seventh bag of 100,000 pills?

There were 10 smugglers, 7 shot dead. My guess is there are 4 more bags out still there.

[soalbundy]

Is Chalerm in charge of the security forces?

He is not even in charge of himself

[kieran2698]

Thai security forces

Is this the Army, or a branch thereof, or part of the RTP?

There is subsequent mention of "border patrol" and "Office of the Narcotics Control Board", and even "soldiers".

Border Patrol is officially part of the police but autonomous in management, established by the CIA and trained by US special forces. The Narcotics Control Board is just as it sounds, a board, a government department providing expert advice on the subject. The army and navy also protect the borders and work with the Border Patrol who are very much militarized despite being officially police and so could well be referred to as soldiers. They all work under the guidance of the NCB with regard to narcotics issues.

[Bluetiger]

I wonder if when these drugs are disposed of, does anyone do a recount? Gut feeling is there are a few missing.

Their recycled. Tune in next week.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[stickylies]

Thai security forces

Is this the Army, or a branch thereof, or part of the RTP?

There is subsequent mention of "border patrol" and "Office of the Narcotics Control Board", and even "soldiers".

Border Patrol is officially part of the police but autonomous in management, established by the CIA and trained by US special forces. The Narcotics Control Board is just as it sounds, a board, a government department providing expert advice on the subject. The army and navy also protect the borders and work with the Border Patrol who are very much militarized despite being officially police and so could well be referred to as soldiers. They all work under the guidance of the NCB with regard to narcotics issues.

In addition:

Thahan Phran are the "tough" boys. They wear black uniforms ("Black shirt warrior").

The Thahan Phran (<<Thai language removed>>; literally "Hunter Soldiers"; Rangers) is a paramilitary light infantry force which patrols the borders of Thailand and is an auxiliary of the Royal Thai Army (RTA). The Thahan Phran operate in conjunction with the Border Patrol Police (BPP), but are trained and equipped to engage in combat while the BPP is primarily a law enforcement agency.

edit: interesting book on the subject

The Boys in Black: The Thahan Phran (Rangers), Thailand's Para-military Border Guards

Edited April 12, 2014 by metisdead
Thai language edited out of post. This is an English language forum, English is the only acceptable language, except in the Thai language forum where Thai language is allowed.

[BestBitterPhuket]

The forces in the north are very effective. Perhaps they should be transfers to the south so that they can clean out the terrorists down there.

[ggt]

Dead men...tell no lies...

[fabphil]

should be more of it...

[philw]

When can we blame Thaksin for this ??

[socksy01]

"There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Thailand."

Should say " There are an estimated 600,000 yaba users in Bangkok alone"

And that's only a probably a small miniscule minority of the population

[ThailandNoob]

I remember reading a set of statistics comparing methamphetamine use across the world (it wasn't broken down into separate figures for yaba and ice). Thailand came in number 1 at 5% of the population (one in 20).

Sent from my IS11T using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[biplanebluey]

Seven smugglers shot dead, 6 bags of drugs.

Where is the seventh bag of 100,000 pills?

Thats 15,000,000------- 5,000,000for me---5,000,000 for you and 5,000,000,for anyone who asks questions.