Govt wants to destroy Thaksin with war-on-drug probe: lawyers

[Heretic.Ape.]

Govt wants to destroy Thaksin with war-on-drug probe: lawyers

Published on August 26, 2007

Deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's team of lawyers Sunday alleged that the government had the ulterior motive of politically destroying him in setting up a committee to investigate his war on drug policy that led to more than 2,500 deaths.
Prakiat Nasimma, Wichit Plangsrisakul and Nikom Chaokittisopon slammed the government for setting up an independent investigative committee to look into alleged systematic humanrights violations carried out by members of the Royal Thai Police in connection with the deaths during the war against drugs campaign initiated by Thaksin in 2003.
Prakiat said his team analysed the motivation and believed the government wanted to harass Thaksin for his drug policy.
"This policy during the Thaksin administration wiped out drugs and influential people related to it, including dirty money derived from the drug trade. I have unconfirmed report that drugs have returned to the northeastern region with the support of bureaucrats and powerful people. Society has to keep a watch on the rise of drug problems and how they use money from drug trade," he said.
Wichit said he felt the move to set up this panel is not justified. "I am worried the committee may mislead the public that the Thaksin administration must be held responsible for any damage," he said.
He questioned why this committee was established only six days before the public referendum on the constitution even though this government has been in power for more than a year. "Is this committee set up to allow the military-installed government to cling to power?" he posed.
Nikom urged the Election Commission to summon National Legislative Assembly member Chai-anan Samudavanija, a staunch critic of Thaksin, to give information about his statement that more than Bt30 billion is expected to be used in the next general election by politicians who want to be in power and whitewash themselves.
The lawyer also urged the government to stop the move to ratify treaties with foreign countries as it would be unconstitutional. Article 186 of the new Constitution says the Cabinet must inform the public to seek their opinion and announce to Parliament before any treaties can be ratified.
The lawyers said they are keeping a watch on the government move to sign up to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Convention Against Corruption.
The Nation



http://nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/...s_30046564.php

[lulz]

This is a good example of political machinations backfiring.

A few years ago, the Prime Minister promised to make Thailand "drug free". Almost immediately dealers started to "kill each other". If successful, this would have won him a huge amount of political capital, because meth was apparently becoming an epidemic in the country.

The reality:

Published: 2003/02/24 11:17:33 GMT

Thai drugs war attacked

Thailand's human rights watchdog has urged the government to re-examine a crackdown on drug dealing which has led to the deaths of hundreds of people.


The latest victims included a nine-year-old boy whom police shot by mistake as they were chasing his mother, and a woman who was eight months pregnant.

Police have said they are responsible for the deaths of only 22 of the 600 people killed since the campaign started three weeks ago, and that they were acting in self-defence in each case. (emphasis added - lulz)

But rights groups have said the execution-style killings suggest a shoot-to-kill policy.

Despite the death toll, polls showed that the policy was enjoying a high level of support among the Thai public. One Bangkok university poll on Sunday suggested 92% of respondents backed the approach.

The same survey did show, however, that seven out of 10 people feared being shot by police themselves.

The nine-year-old boy was shot on Sunday as police fired at his mother's car as she tried to escape following the arrest of the boy's father for possession of methamphetamines, police said.

Three police officers have been arrested on murder charges in relation to the case.


Inquiry urged

Thailand Rights Commissioner Surasee Kosolnavin condemned the way the government's anti-drugs campaign - dubbed "an eye-for-an-eye" by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - was being conducted.

"This is clearly a violation of human rights of innocent people," Mr Surasee told Reuters news agency.

"Law enforcement officers are supposed to provide safety to innocent people, not to threaten their lives," he said.

Mr Surasee said his commission had called on the prime minister to investigate whether police officers were operating within the law, and to find out what criteria they were using to place people on their suspects list.

Mr Thaksin himself has denied accusations that his government is encouraging a shoot to kill policy in order to meet tough targets to rid the country of methamphetamines.

The prime minister said on Friday that "everything had been done according to the law".

He argued that police have acted in self-defence.

"There is nowhere on earth that police ask suspects who are about to fire a gunshot to go to court first," the prime minister added.

Police have said the deaths were the result of inter-gang warfare.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...ic/2793419.stm

I remember reading a BBC article written by a reporter who was in Bangkok at the time, and had just been informed of a police shootout between a dealer. When the reporter got there, the dealer was dead, face down, shot a number of times in the back. He had obviously been running away from the police, not engaged in a shootout.

[Expat98]

LOL, I would so dearly love to see Thaksin locked up for this! That would be soooo sweet!!

[Nagognog2]

I believe hanging is the punishment for premeditated murder in Thailand.

[Pomzazed]

Originally Posted by Nagognog2

I believe hanging is the punishment for premeditated murder in Thailand.

O_o *glares wideeyes from the firecat who is thailand native*

Huh? Thailand uses no hanging anymore!
The death penalty is done via injecting KCl along with other agents.

Well, anyhow this is quite outdated news for us Thai though. Since the Thaksin policy on drug wars, what really happen is a little drop on supply of meth and vasely drops on the supply of cannabis (which skyrocketted the price among streetdealers), however it can be found everywhere, still, as he announce the "win" of the war last year. Now the situation stayed the same like that except for the new drugs called 4x100 that leaks from the southern area.

[lulz]

Originally Posted by Pomzazed

The death penalty is done via injecting KCl along with other agents.

I think that future generations will look back on the lethal injection as an atrocity.

Since obviously nobody recovers from it, there's no data on what the experience feels like. But this also means that if the execution is performed incorrectly, the death could be excrutiatingly painful.

A barbituate is used to knock the patient out. In theory this is fine, but if the dosage level is incorrect, or the prisoners metabolism/brain chemistry/whatever is abnormal, it's possible that they may retain some consciousness during the rest of the procedure.

Next a chemical is injected which paralyses the body. I have no idea what the logic behind this is, but I presume it's for the benefit of observer's and the people carrying out the execution.

Finally potassium chloride is injected to actually kill the prisoner. The logic is that it will stop his heart. But if the barbituate hasn't put the prisoner fully unconscious, he'll still be somewhat aware of what he's feeling, however he'll be unable to signal this to anybody else since the second injection has paralysed him. This is where the potential atrocity lies. If the prisoner is still semi-conscious, his last few seconds alive will be spent in unimaginable agony, because that much potassium chloride being injected into you will make you feel like your whole body is burning, and you aren't even able to scream.

Why the fuck is this how they perform a lethal injection? There are a thousand other ways that would involve no such risk. One example: inject the prisoner with a massive amount of insulin, and he'll just feel like he's falling asleep. Or a massive dose of some anaesthetic. Etc. They're already killing the guy, why don't they do it the most humane way possible?

[Expat98]

Originally Posted by Pomzazed

Now the situation stayed the same like that except for the new drugs called 4x100 that leaks from the southern area.

What kind of drug is that? Never heard of that.

[lulz]

Originally Posted by Expat98

What kind of drug is that? Never heard of that.

Apparently it's a kratom-based substance.

In a November 2005 article in the Bangkok Post, it was reported that young Thai militants were offered to drink a "4x100" kratom formula to make them "more bold and fearless and easy to control." The two "4x100" kratom formulas are described as a mixture of a boiled kratom leaves and mosquito coils and cola or a mixture of boiled cough syrup, kratom leaves and cola served with ice. In this report it was also mentioned use of that the "4x100" formula was gaining popularity among Muslim youngsters in several districts of Yala (Southern Thailand) and was available in local coffee and tea shops.

I can't link to the full article, because it's located on some kind of DEA affiliated government website. But if you google:

drug 4x100

It's the 4th article down.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Thanks for the research

[enquirewithin]

I'm sure the current Thai government do want to destroy Thaksin with his involvement in a disastrous drug war, but he surely deserves it.

I am curious about '4x100'. Anyone read Thai?

[Pomzazed]

Originally Posted by enquirewithin

I am curious about '4x100'. Anyone read Thai?

The firecat is Thai feline :P
So let the firecat will help translate this! Sorry for some vocabulary misuse :P someone's firecat is not a native english speaker.

==========================================
Article : (from the above post)
The Yellow box says :

Kratom leafs may give some useful pharmalogical effects, but is addictable and can be health-threatening if used for a long term.

The Other Part (black text in white background) says :
(! = Firecat's additional information as what he knows)

[Paragraph 1]

Currently Kratom leafs is widespread among teenagers and students, which might caused from the cheap price and the ablility to get high like other drugs. It is popular to mix "Kratom Leaf Boiled Water" "Coca Cola" "Mosquito Repellant(!They do add this, seems like pyrethroid compound!)" and "Cough Syrup(!Not DXM, but is benadryl syrup)" which is called 4x100. The seniors at Thanyarak hospital would like to invite phamacologists to explain how Kratom affects the body, from the known experience in curing the addicted as described below.

[Paragraph 2]

Kratom, which has scientific name of Mitragyna speciosa Korth in Rubiacea, is a tree which is 10-15 meter tall, green-single-leaf, setting on the opposite side, the leaf is around 5-10 cm width and 8-14 cm in length. It has the yellowish white flower at 3-5 cm size. Kratom can be found in some province of central region like Pathum Thani, but mostly found growing naturally in the forest of southern region provinces like Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Trang, Satoon, Pattalung, Song Khla, Pattani, Narathiwat and upper part of Malaysia. Kratom is controlled as Scheduled V of the thailand drug act on the buddhist year 2522 (equivalent to 1979) (Thailand has five class of drug act, the Schedule V includes plants like Kratom and Cannabis)

[Picture of red stem Kratom]

[Picture of green stem Kratom]

[Paragraph 3]

Kratom leaf has bitterly taste, can be use as medication for stomachache, Shigellosis, diarrhea, muscle pains and makes the user feel resistance to work and not getting hungry easily. Most users are rice-farmers, fruit farmers, and workers in rural areas.

[Paragraph 4]

To use Kratom, it is often used by chewing raw fresh leaf or mix the grounded-dried leaf to water, one also adds a little bit of table salt to prevent constipation. In general, only 2-3 leaves is chewed and drink warm water or coffee afterwards, and used 7-10 times a day. After a while, the tolerance will build up and need more leaves (around 37 per cent uses around 21-30 leaves a day)

[Paragraph 5]

The tracking of Kratom user's behavior shows that low amount of leaf leads to calming the CNS, while the higher dose instead stimulating the CNS, however some studies shows the opposite interaction.

[Paragraph 6]

From the study about Kratom addictors in Thailand, result that after 5-10 minutes of taking Kratom, the user will grants some euphoria, enthusiating, not want to eat food, works for longer time, resist to sunlight; but will lower resistant to cold weather a lot. The user will have more reddish skin due to higher blood circulating around the skin. The side effects are dry mouth, oftenly urinating, constipation, insomnia. If taken in high dosage, it may result in confusion and promotes vomitting. Although in some case only 3 leaves produces such mentioned side effects.

[Paragraph 7]

When it is used for a extended period, the users will experience the feeling of not desiring to eat, weight loss, insomnia and having darker skin at the cheeks similar to some hepatic diseases. Roughly 30 per cent of Kratom addicts report that they have lower sexual desiration and need Kratom combined with alcohol to stimulate the feeling. In some case schizophrenia and hallucination is reported.

[Paragraph 8]

If one stops taking, withdrawal symptoms will occur : deenergitized, pain in the muscle and bones, hands and legs shaking, unable to do normal works, dysphoria and aggressive.

[Paragraph 9]

The reasearch reaveals that Kratom leaf contains many alkaloids, majorly mitragynine, 20 leaves of it will yeild aroun 17mg of this substance. This chemical only possesed naturally only in this spicies of plant, which can be used to make an identify key for Kratom. The research also shows that both Kratom extract and mitragynine in guinea animal shows the following result.
1. Relax smooth muscles, so it may induces local anaethestic. And somehow stimulate the CNS similar to cocaine.
2. Stops the pain like morphine in opium, acting at mu-opioid receptor and delta-opioid receptor. The different part is that it also depress the activity of 5-HT2A receptor.
3. Prevention of acid releasing in stomach like those properties of morphine, via opioid receptors, claimed to have such side effects like that.
4. Reduce intestinal contraction via mu- and delta- opioid receptor.
5. Antipyretic properties, comparable to aminopyrin.

[Paragraph 10]

It can be seen that Kratom have possible pharmaceutical effects, but is addictive and gives bad result if used continuously. This is only a bit of data, as you can read from theses references.

[Lists of Refs]
==========================================

Hope this will help

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Thanks for the informa
	Thanks for the translation - much appreciated!
	Thanks for the translation
	thanks for the translation

[Expat98]

Here's a follow-up article.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/a...n_war_on_drugs

*******************************************

Thailand Looks Back in Anger on War on Drugs

By Peter Janssen Aug 29, 2007, 12:21 GMT

Bangkok - In 2003 Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra launched his War on Drugs, a police-led campaign to staunch a flood of methamphetamine pills made in illicit labs along the Thai-Myanmar border into the kingdom.

The three-month-long war claimed 2,500 victims of extra-judicial slayings, supposedly drug traffickers, and immediately placed Thailand in the international dog house for gross human rights violations.

Thaksin, deposed by a coup on September 19 may still go to court for masterminding the slayings. A special commission has been set up to determine his culpability, with results expected within 10 months.

'There are at least 80 cases that have been thoroughly reviewed in which it's been proven that the victims had nothing to do with drugs,' said Kraisak Choonhavan, a member of the commission. 'There was a huge injustice done to Thailand in the name of the war on drugs.'

Worse still, it didn't even solve Thailand's methamphetamine problem.

Methamphetamines, also called yaa baa, or crazy drugs, were made illegal in Thailand in 1996, about the same time that crime syndicates operating the heroin trade out of northern Myanmar started switching to synthetic stimulants.

Thailand, Myanmar's neighbour to the south, became the chief market and transit route for the new drugs.

In 2000, Thai authorities estimated the methamphetamine production in the Shan State of Myanmar, at 1 billion pills, based on the 100 million seized in Thailand.

Thaksin, a populist politician elected prime minister in 2001, decided heavy-handedness was the best solution to the problem.

The mass slayings of suspected methamphetamine pushers did reduce abuse, for a while, but it hardly eliminated demand for drugs among Thai youths, the main market for the stimulants.

The crackdown also gave rise to a surge in abuse among Thailand's neighbours, Laos and Cambodia.

'The traffic route essentially shifted away from Thailand into Laos and down the Mekong River in Cambodia,' said Jeremy Douglas, the Bangkok-based regional project coordinator for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 'So you see this huge surge in abuse in those two countries, simultaneous with the war on drugs.'

Methamphetamines are now readily available again in Thailand, with many of the pills being imported across the border from Laos and Cambodia, according to drug authorities.

But the damage done by the war on drugs to Thailand's reputation abroad and to Thai society remains.

Since Thailand made methamphetamine use illegal in 1996, the number of young people imprisoned has doubled. Last year, for example, some 51,457 Thais were arrested on amphetamine-related charges, or 75 per cent of total drug arrests made.

Prior to 1996, methamphetamines were available legally as a stimulant popular among truck drivers and students cramming for exams.

'If you look at it from a societal public health point of view it's a complete disaster,' said one foreign expert who has been studying the impact of the crackdown on methamphetamines in northern Thailand. 'It's a catastrophe because you have all these young people going into prison where they will be exposed to high-risk behaviour like tattooing, rape and whatever,' said the foreign health worker, who asked to remain anonymous.

A good place to check out the societal impact of Thaksin's war is Klong Toey slum in Bangkok, once the reputed hub for the capital's booming methamphetamine trade.

At least 10 alleged methamphetamine dealers in Klong Toey were killed during the war, but Father Joe Maier, a Catholic priest who has been running the Mercy Centre in the slum for 37 years, opined that only four of the victims were genuine drug dealers.

'The sin here was heavy-handedness,' said Maier. 'And secondly, no one really wanted to stop the drugs because everyone knows that if you want to stop drugs you have to have pride in the community.'

'There was no money put in to better schools, better drug rehabilitation programmes and that sort of stuff. That's my anger,' said Maier.

[Triple7]

If SWIY didn't know, then SWIM can tell that Thaksin is a former cop. SWIM believes dirty tricks made him wealthy.

Before this crack down, cops used different methods to extort money. For example by picking a local prostitute and junkie, keeping her few days in jail, letting her out and threatening to put her back if she doesn't cooperate as informer. She then sold drugs to tourists, and then informed the police about who were her buyers. Once a while tourists got searched and had to pay hefty bribes to the police to get out of trouble. One tourist for example got searched by a single police man. The Guest House owner knocked at the door, and stepped in, seeing both the tourist and the police smoking ganja together. The policeman left after a few hours... when the tourist had paid tens of thousands of dollars in bribe. The bribes, are usually shared with their informers.

SWIM also has experiences with bribes. One time a cop fucked with SWIM just because he could. There was nothing illegal in his bag and there was nothing that should put him in trouble, but SWIM had to pay a bribe for him to go away. In another case, SWIM had a picture of a illegal plant on a lighter. SWIM had to pay 200$ to get out of trouble. SWIM also has experiences where cops give SWIM drugs and they have party together.

Thais are scared of informers and whitnesses. For example if a woman is raped, they make sure to kill her. Just think of all of those who accepts bribes and are very money hungry.. what did Thaksins war make??? People get 99 years for trafficking drugs. Partners were killing each others, evil police men were killing to hide their past and motives. All the senseless mess.. just for "letting them kill each others".

[enquirewithin]

Originally Posted by Pomzazed

The firecat is Thai feline :P
So let the firecat will help translate this! Sorry for some vocabulary misuse :P someone's firecat is not a native english speaker.

Currently Kratom leafs is widespread among teenagers and students, which might caused from the cheap price and the ablility to get high like other drugs. It is popular to mix "Kratom Leaf Boiled Water" "Coca Cola" "Mosquito Repellant(!They do add this, seems like pyrethroid compound!)" and "Cough Syrup(!Not DXM, but is benadryl syrup)" which is called 4x100. The seniors at Thanyarak hospital would like to invite phamacologists to explain how Kratom affects the body, from the known experience in curing the addicted as described below.

Thanks for the translation.

Adding mosquito repellent sounds like a very bad idea! It seems that if one had fresh leaves the alkaloid content is higher and that chewing makes the onset of kratom much faster.

[Pomzazed]

Yea, all knows its the bad idea, but 4x100 widespread in the south where some crazy terrorist got their powers there.

[~lostgurl~]

Thailand Coup Anniversary
(one-year anniversary on wednesday, september 19)

18 September 2007
Scoop Independent News
Column: Richard S. Ehrlich

BANGKOK, Thailand -- One year after the military toppled Thailand's elected government in a bloodless coup, this Buddhist- majority ally of America now suffers splits over its failure to put ousted officials on trial for alleged corruption and extra-judicial killings.

While coup-empowered generals continue to play politics in Bangkok, and melodramatic musical chairs with military promotions, Islamist guerrillas in the Muslim-majority south fight for independence, targeting Buddhist civilians and Muslim moderates with bombings, arson and beheadings. "It may be another generation," before Islamist insurgents are defeated, Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, the coup leader, said last week.

Elsewhere, a rise of crafty, powerful, anti-coup politicians -- who hope to take power if democracy is restored -- are evoking worry that revenge prosecutions against junta officials may soon wrench this Southeast Asian nation.

"He [Gen. Sonthi] needs assurances that he will not be a target of revenge by the old power clique, which appears to be staging a triumphant political comeback unless something is done to halt the advance," warned the English-language Bangkok Post newspaper's deputy editor-in-chief, Veera Prateepchaikul.

The military said it may allow a nationwide election on Dec. 23 for a new prime minister, but also hinted at a possible bait-and- switch strategy to delay polling until 2008.

Their Sept. 19, 2006 coup kicked out billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra from the prime minister's office, and banned 111 of his political party stalwarts and cronies.

Mr. Thaksin, self-exiled in England, denied all charges of wrongdoing, and is currently battling lawsuits and arrest warrants aimed at him and his relatives, filed by the junta's tribunals and investigators.

The junta said it is sending a delegation to London to demand Mr. Thaksin's extradition, but legal analysts said that ploy may collapse due to a lack of evidence and other legal hurdles.

The junta's generals spent much of the past year strengthening their domination over this capitalist country's political, economic and social life, after awarding themselves amnesty for actions committed during and after their coup.

With half the country under martial law, the military oversaw the writing of a new constitution, narrowly approved by voters on Aug. 19 indicating a major split in support for the coup's goals.

The new constitution allows about half of the senate to be appointed, and increases the power of appointed judges, while diminishing the ability of large political parties to run the type of arrogant, power-block government Mr. Thaksin wielded.

Throughout Thailand, people suffered a sharp downtown in the economy after the junta's confused policies crippled the stock market, dented tourism, shocked foreign investors and swelled unemployment.

Thais are now eyeing the upcoming election, and watching the rise of Samak Sundaravej, a fearsome, "ultra-rightist" politician who recently became leader of a new People's Power Party (PPP) sheltering many of Mr. Thaksin's politicians.

Mr. Samak, a former Bangkok governor now in his 70s, has an extremely combative history within Thailand's brutal and murky political landscape. He threatens to be a bare-knuckles prime minister if his party and coalition partners win enough votes.

Outspoken and willing to mix things up, Mr. Samak has challenged the junta by promising to cancel their five-year banishment of Mr. Thaksin's 111 political colleagues, dissolve the regime's anti- corruption Assets Scrutiny Committee tribunal, and invite the manipulative fugitive to return home from England.

Mr. Thaksin's former spokesman, Jakrapob Penkair, has also become a top enemy of the junta, and recently spent several days in jail for leading an anti-coup protest. "In my opinion, coup-making should be punished by death," Mr. Jakrapob said in an interview on Aug. 29. "We would be proposing a death sentence for coup-making. And we may start with this bunch," Mr. Jakrapob said, referring to the junta.

Mr. Jakrapob is a top leader in a Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship -- also known as the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship -- which has attracted thousands of supporters.

The junta meanwhile alleged Mr. Thaksin's government was responsible for a horrific "war on drugs" in which 2,500 Thais died in "extra-judicial killings" during 2003. "Those who accused Thaksin of ordering the killings definitely supported the drug trade," Mr. Samak said on Sunday (Sept. 16), defending his ally.

Boosters of the coup, and opponents of Mr. Thaksin, voiced dismay that the junta has not put Mr. Thaksin on trial for the drug-related killings, or for alleged massive corruption committed during his five- year reign.

Human rights groups and journalists have also complained about the military's severe restrictions on Thailand's access to text and video Web sites. "The culture of fear is widespread, more than ever before, especially in cyberspace," wrote columnist Kavi Chongkittavorn on Monday (Sept. 17), one week after being honored by the Washington- based National Endowment for Democracy for preserving press freedom overseas. "Online users are now subject to police harassment," Mr. Kavi said. Looking at Thailand's emerging political parties, he predicted, "a new vicious circle is in the offing."

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0709/S00311.htm