Thailand’s former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has called for an “anti-drug war” against Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic armed group, the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Thaksin—who is the father of the current prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra—made the remarks in a keynote speech on drugs and transnational crime delivered to Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board in Bangkok on Tuesday.
“Our young generation is being destroyed,” he was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying, urging greater coordination among government agencies to tackle the growing problem of drug use in Thailand.
“People say the economy can wait, but drug problems cannot. The entire community is suffering and living in fear,” he added.
In his speech, he accused the UWSA of flooding the country with cheap methamphetamine tablets. The group operates mainly along Myanmar’s borders with China and Thailand, including in the notorious Golden. . .
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