Thailand’s drug war: if they were innocent, why were they killed?

The BBC reports on the resumption of Thailand’s bloody campaign against illegal drugs. The violent state-sponsored “war on drugs” was first initiated under the administration of Thaksin Shinawatra, who was deposed by a military coup in a 2006. Samak Sundaravej, the successor to Shinawatra as democratically elected Prime Minister, says “I will not set a target for how many people should die” in the campaign.

In a report titled “Not Enough Graves: The War on Drugs, HIV/AIDS, and Violations of Human Rights,” Human Rights Watch estimates that “more than 2,000 persons” were murdered by extra-judicial killings executed during the Shinawatra drug war.

The current Thai Interior Minister Chalerm Yubamrung gave a glimpse of the calculus Thailand’s administration is using in its attempt to “quickly, consistently and permanently eradicate the spread of narcotic drugs and to overcome narcotic problems”. “When we implement a policy that may bring 3,000 to 4,000 bodies, we will do it,” Yubamrung was quoted as saying.

Time will tell whether Thailand will be more successful than Newt Gingrich, who in 1998 vowed to make the U.S. ”drug free” by 2002.

---

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader.

Drug Policy Blog | Powered by WordPress & ElegantBlue