Drug tests for residents in troubled community

[Lite Beer]

Drug tests for residents in troubled community
The Nation,

BANGKOK: -- ANTI-NARCOTICS officials are preparing to get all residents in the Suan Son Soi 9 community to undergo drug tests next Friday to determine if they have used narcotics.

It is estimated there are about 500 residents in the drug-plagued community in Bang Kapi in Bangkok.

Narcotics Suppression Bureau chief Pol Lt-Colonel Rewat Klinkesorn said yesterday the drug tests were scheduled for July 10.

He disclosed the plan after recent inspections in the community found that a seven-year-old child had already started taking drugs.

Police found that a mother fed her two-year-old child with the narcotic kratom mixed with water, he said at a press conference.

Permpong Chaovalit, who heads the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said the joint operation by his office, the NSB and military units had managed to nail down eight drug suspects, who were now wanted under arrest warrants.

"Some drug peddlers are just 15 and 16 years old," he said.

Rewat said drug dealers in the community reportedly sold methamphetamines at between Bt37 and Bt100 a tablet.

In a related development, Agence France-Presse quoted an official as saying paramilitary forces shot dead seven suspected drug smugglers and seized six bags of heroin after a firefight near the Myanmar border, in the latest clash over narcotics in the remote region.

Heroin and methamphetamine pills are frequently smuggled from Myanmar into Thailand, the gateway to the lucrative Southeast Asian drugs market.

The latest clash broke out between around a dozen suspected drug traffickers and the paramilitary forces on Thursday night in Mae Fah Luang district in Chiang Rai, district chief Vorayan Bunarat told AFP.

"We still don't know the identities of the victims," he said, adding that a machine gun and six bags of heroin were seized, without providing an estimated value or the size of the haul.

He said some of the group of between 10 and 15 people escaped.

There were no casualties among the paramilitaries.

The notorious "Golden Triangle" region covering parts of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar was formerly one of the world's top producers of opium and heroin until the emergence of Afghanistan as a drugs production hub.

Myanmar's eastern Shan State accounts for nearly all of the illegal poppy cultivation in the country, which remains the world's second largest opium producer.

Much of the raw material is believed to be smuggled across the border for processing into heroin in China, which is home to the world's largest number of addicts.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Drug-tests-for-residents-in-troubled-community-30263700.html

-- The Nation 2015-07-04

[jaidam]

Let's drug test the entire police force first from top to bottom, just to make sure that drug dealers are not bullying other drug abusers because that would be a silly situation.

[MB1]

Let's drug test the entire police force first from top to bottom, just to make sure that drug dealers are not bullying other drug abusers because that would be a silly situation.

And why not give all the Police, army, navy and all politicians a lie dectector test and see how many of them are involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs, now that would be interesting.....

[Mango Bob]

I am sure all the residence and drug dealers/users of the area will be there waiting in line to be tested.

[djjamie]

I am sure all the residence and drug dealers/users of the area will be there waiting in line to be tested.

I bet that under yingluck you would say this project was a success.

I for one hope that drugs are removed from the landscape of Thailand....

MDMA being the exception!

[Nigeone]

Why don't they warn them there going to test...oh wait...

[NongKhaiKid]

I am sure all the residence and drug dealers/users of the area will be there waiting in line to be tested.

Same routine as warning suspects in major cases that arrest warrants are being applied for.

It's all about a headline to make it look as if something positive is being done, or a hint to some to make themselves scarce, as it certainly isn't a good operational tactic.

[slapout]

a partial solution to police corruption/stupidity is to hire mute police, this would cut down on a lot of the communication /cooperation between the police and those law breakers they are susposed to be apprenending. many police are just rattling on needlesy about topics they know virtually nothing about but are guessing, taking up wasted press space, air time and what should be working hours to solve/prevent crime instead of talking about it. they would be better utilized as soap opera actors.......

[SOTIRIOS]

...another farce of enforcement....

[Alex Sharp]

Let's drug test the entire police force first from top to bottom, just to make sure that drug dealers are not bullying other drug abusers because that would be a silly situation.

And why not give all the Police, army, navy and all politicians a lie dectector test and see how many of them are involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs, now that would be interesting.....

Do they actually use lie detectors in Thailand ???

[halloween]

And why not give all the Police, army, navy and all politicians a lie dectector test and see how many of them are involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs, now that would be interesting.....

Quite a few industries and military services in other countries now have a mandatory drug test program. Reducing demand is as important as reducing supply, and can be much easier to detect.

[Toknarok]

When I worked in the mines in W. Aust. we were regularly subjected to drug tests, amphetamines, cannabiloids, opiates and alcohol. A computer would randomly pick who was to be tested. Everybody was included from the Mine Manager down.

They certainly did not advise a week in advance the date they were going to test. Advance warning completely negates the purpose of testing. These Bangkok residents will simply disappear or cease taking these substances. Even cannabis which traces linger in your body for some time will usually be clear after a weeks abstinance.

[Bluespunk]

They are going to try to test the whole community?

Hope the cameras are present when this happens because the whole operation could quite quickly go tits up if people decide they don't like the idea.

[Oziex1]

Let's drug test the entire police force first from top to bottom, just to make sure that drug dealers are not bullying other drug abusers because that would be a silly situation.

And why not give all the Police, army, navy and all politicians a lie dectector test and see how many of them are involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs, now that would be interesting.....

Do they actually use lie detectors in Thailand ???

They tried them once but they burnt out from the background chatter alone, before they got to the suspect.

[Laughing Gravy]

I am sure all the residence and drug dealers/users of the area will be there waiting in line to be tested.

I bet that under yingluck you would say this project was a success.

I for one hope that drugs are removed from the landscape of Thailand....

MDMA being the exception!

You are contradictive with the last statement. Either ban all drugs or don't. If you want to start the old debate which is bad or good then add ciggaretes and alcohol to the list.

[Mango Bob]

I am sure all the residence and drug dealers/users of the area will be there waiting in line to be tested.

I bet that under yingluck you would say this project was a success.

I for one hope that drugs are removed from the landscape of Thailand....

MDMA being the exception!

There you go again. Don't bet on anything I do, you will lose also stay off the MDMA, it may be your problem or at least one of them. Have a good day and worry more about yourself then me.

[elgordo38]

Let's drug test the entire police force first from top to bottom, just to make sure that drug dealers are not bullying other drug abusers because that would be a silly situation.

And why not give all the Police, army, navy and all politicians a lie dectector test and see how many of them are involved in the sale and supply of illegal drugs, now that would be interesting.....

I agree this bottom up approach never works. It just targets the poor. If I was one of the poor people there I would want to be assured that the person testing me is also drug free. Lead by example. This whole charade of testing 500 people makes good press.

[elgordo38]

They are going to try to test the whole community?

Hope the cameras are present when this happens because the whole operation could quite quickly go tits up if people decide they don't like the idea.

The camera's will be there along with all the finger pointing. Will they need hundreds of officers to point the fickle finger of fate at those that are guilty? Hmm I doubt it Elvis has left the building.

[Nobb]

Great news for the people of the troubled community. Now the can get time to buy herbal to get there urine and blood clean. Is this for real or has the police

lost all parts of being a professional police force. Do the give farangs a notice when they want to test them while they are walking down the street. So Thai!

I guess they do not check Thais walking down the street because Thais do not do drugs!

Edited July 4, 2015 by Nobb

[hgma]

In general a epedemic of any kind would be eradicated by seeking the source of decease, and mind you , i consider drug users who gamble sanity with ya baa and ice as risky as the addicts themselves and a decease.

What happens now is a cat and mice/vice game

Without any feasible study and recomnmendations to combat the demand it is utterly impossible to root out the flow.

BTW.......synthetic mind boggling dope i am talking about....not enjoying a joint once in a while.

[Thai at Heart]

surely, someone somewhere can work out that this infringes someones rights somewhere.

[shaggy851]

No point talking about the consqeunces if your not willing to eradicate the source. Maybe better to find the barges coming in down the river under escort and cover of darkness, the people unloading it and suppling the smaller dealers in the bangkapi community. You can drug test them amd fine the users but why not just go straight for the dealers and suppliers..