Former Thai PM Thaksin urges ‘anti-drug war’ against Wa army

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 Triangle region where Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet. He also said that “earnest collaboration” with neighbouring countries would be needed to combat drug trafficking, adding that foreign ministry officials would be meeting with their regional counterparts soon to discuss the issue. “If Myanmar claims it cannot manage the issue because it involves ethnic minority groups, we may need to take direct action ourselves,” he warned. Thaksin’s push for action came on the same day that the United Nations’ Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released a report noting a sharp rise in the production and trafficking of methamphetamines in Myanmar since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021. According to the UNODC report, there has been an “exponential surge” in the amount of the drug flowing from the country over the past four years. Last year, a record 236 tons—most of it from Shan State—were seized in East and Southeast Asia, representing a 24 percent increase from the previous year. Even this was likely just a fraction of what was reaching illicit drug markets across the region, said Benedikt Hofmann of the UNODC, describing the amount as “unprecedented.” Speaking to Myanmar Now on Wednesday, UWSA spokesperson Nyi Yam dismissed Thaksin’s claims against the group, calling them “a timely political game and a baseless accusation.” While acknowledging the challenges involved in combating the drug issue, Nyi Yam said the UWSA was not the only armed group operating along Myanmar’s borders. Illicit drugs are, he said, not only a problem for the UWSA, but also “an enemy of the people.” Wa forces have taken serious action against the production and transport of drugs in their territory since declaring it a “drug clean state” in 2005, he said. “The Wa State has become the state with the least drug use,” he told Myanmar Now, adding: “They are giving us pressure by taking advantage of Myanmar’s internal instability.” Thaksin’s past efforts to crack down on drug networks in Thailand were hugely controversial. His 2003 “war on drugs” resulted in the death of more than 2,500 people, including many allegedly slain in extra-judicial killings.

Former Thai PM Thaksin urges ‘anti-drug war’ against Wa army

The call comes as a new UN report notes an “exponential surge” in methamphetamine production in Myanmar since the 2021 coup

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