Bedil is just one of millions of Thai voters who would like to see the drug problem exterminated, literally. Appealing to their frustrations, populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared an open war on drugs on Feb. 1, pledging to completely eradicate the scourge from Thailand within three months. A bloodbath has ensued, with more than 1,000 people having been killed in the first month. The government insists the killing spree reflects internecine feuds, as drug dealers try to silence colleagues who might squeal on them, and that police have shot only 16 people–each time in self-defense. Authorities also arrested several thousand people in the first few weeks, often, human-rights activists charge, without warrants and in some cases merely because their names appeared on an infamous blacklist of suspected dealers.
As the death toll rises, Thaksin, who was voted into office by vowing to crack down on vice, has repeatedly tried to dismiss the violence, saying, “It’s bandits killing bandits.” But the fact that police have arrested only a handful of suspects in any of the murders is fueling suspicions that some cops are behind many of the deaths. Prominent human-rights groups, Thaksin’s political opponents and even the United Nations are raising alarm bells. Somchai Homlaor, secretary-general of Forum-Asia, a regional human-rights group, says Thailand is in danger of reverting to the dark days of military rule, as the government gives police the powers of judge, jury and executioner. “This is a practice that does not comply with the rule of law, which is a foundation of a democratic society,” he says.
There is little question that Thailand has a serious drug problem. Six years ago methamphetamine pills–known locally as ya ba (the crazy drug)–were scarcely available on the streets of Bangkok. Today more than 3 million Thais use the drug and a third of them are addicted, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The Thai military estimates that 1 billion ya ba pills will be smuggled into Thailand from Burma this year. Worse, Thai officials acknowledge that elements within their military, police and own government are protecting drug smugglers and larger dealers, and that beat cops look the other way in return for kickbacks from street pushers. Hence, say officials, the need for a crackdown. “We’re pushing the police to do their jobs… and if they do it properly, there will be no drug problem,” says Sita Divari, Thaksin’s spokesman.
But many fear the government’s gung-ho attitude is itself making the streets more dangerous. Thaksin has threatened to remove provincial governors and police chiefs who don’t produce enough arrests, drug seizures or dead dealers, which critics say only encourages extrajudicial killings and false arrests. Police conducting recent drug raids in Bangkok have broken into private homes allegedly without warrants and, according to one human-rights worker, are warning people on the blacklist to stop selling drugs “or you’ll be shot.” Forum-Asia is investigating reports that bullets have been removed from the bodies of drug murder victims to prevent identifying the shooter, and that other bodies were cremated before autopsies could be performed. The police are now offering cash rewards to informants and dealers who turn in their partners, which only encourages drug barons to take out their own people.
Thaksin’s all-out assault has scored some victories. Authorities say more than 70,000 people have already turned themselves in to avoid being arrested. This month the government will open rehabilitation programs in 36 provinces for chronic drug users and small-time dealers, who largely push the pills to pay for their habits. And police are reporting a shortage of ya ba, with street prices for the pills already quadrupling. “The prime minister wants to see, if every part of society focuses on one aspect–which is drugs–what the impact is,” says Chatchai Suthikamol, deputy secretary of the Narcotics Control Board. “Three months is just a beginning.” That sounds like bad news for the country’s drug dealers–and perhaps its democrats.
