THAI MILITARY SEIZE HUGE DRUGS CACHE

Five drug traffickers were executed last week The Thai military has
seized a huge haul of drugs from traffickers on the country's border
with Burma, officials said.

Troops retrieved more than six million tablets of met-amphetamine -
known as "ice" in the West - and about 4.5kg of heroin after a brief
clash with gunmen near the town of Phobphra.

The haul - the third largest ever by the Thai authorities - was the
second in the area in a week.

Synthetic met-amphetamine pills made in Burma have flooded Thailand
in recent years.

The new government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has taken a
hardline approach to the problem, declaring a war on drugs. Last week
the authorities executed five major drug traffickers by firing squad.

There are fears that Thailand is losing the battle against the
escalating drug problem, believed to affect two million people out of
the population of 60 million.

Pressure on Burma

The Thai military said it believed the gunmen belonged two ethnic
rebel groups - of the Karen and Wa minorities - which are allies of
the Burmese government and run drug factories inside Burmese
territory.

The Thai authorities have called on Burma to take action against the
United Wa State Army - one of the ethnic militia groups accused of
drug smuggling - but Burma has said it has no control over them.

The range of anti-drug measures now being considered by the
government is clear evidence of its alarm over the serious impact of
narcotics on Thai society.

Among the new initiatives planned are tours of prison for
schoolchildren to show them how unpleasant life is there.

In 1999, there were more than 660,000 cases of drug-related offences
by students.