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.