THAI PM TO FIGHT WAR ON DRUGS

CHIANG RAI, Thailand (AP) - Between addiction and trafficking,
Thailand is facing a major drug crisis, the prime minister said
Saturday, calling on senior officials to come up with a "special
strategy" to fight the problem.

Thaksin Shinawatra made the comments in opening a 11/2-day meeting of
top government officials aimed at constructing new anti-drug
strategies. He said in his opening speech that 6 to 7 percent of
Thailand's 61 million people are addicted to drugs - mainly illegal
stimulant methamphetamine.

"This is like a cancer that will further spread and destroy the whole
body," he told his audience of more than 100 police, military and
civilian officials.

Thaksin, who took office last month, said the problem was too serious
to deal with strictly on a day-to-day basis.

"We have to have a special strategy to tackle the problem. We have to
think that this is the vital mission of the country and it is a war,"
he said. "This is a meeting for mapping out the right strategy in a
holistic approach."

The meeting is being held under tight security in Chiang Rai, 422
miles north of Bangkok, in the Golden Triangle region where the
borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. Hundreds of police and
military personnel were in and around the gathering, which was held at
a luxury hotel.

The Golden Triangle is historically a center for production and
trafficking of opium and its derivative, heroin, but in recent years
has become a major source of methamphetamine, which now is Thailand's
more widespread drug.

Thai and other drug experts say the illegal stimulant is smuggled from
neighboring Myanmar, where it is produced in massive quantities by
minority ethnic groups while the military government turns a blind
eye.

The cross-border drug traffic has caused anger in Thailand, especially
among Thai military commanders who feel the Myanmar army is providing
safe haven for the drug traffickers.

The seriousness of the issue was underlined recently when drug
traffickers were named among the possible suspects in the bombing of a
Thai Airways jet on which Thaksin was due to travel.

The Thai Airways Boeing was gutted by fire after the explosion on the
tarmac at Bangkok airport, minutes before Thaksin and 148 other
passengers were to board a flight for the northern city of Chiang Mai.
One crew member was killed and seven other airline staff were injured.

Police have still not made any arrests or named suspects in the case,
although officials have suggested a business conflict unrelated to the
prime minister or his policies might be involved.