THAILAND WAGES WAR OF WORDS ON STIMULANT DRUG

To make it seem less trendy, 'ya ba' the 'madness pill' is to be
known as 'ya ngo' or 'stupid pill'. This is its second name change in
five years.

BANGKOK - Having failed to stem the tide of methamphetamine abuse,
the Thai authorities are trying to make the drug 'less cool' among
youngsters by calling it 'ya ngo', or the 'stupid pill' - the second
name change in five years.

"Only a crackdown on drug production and trafficking is the real
strategy to stamp out drug problems. Treatment for drug takers is
also a key." -- Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh. --
REUTERS

The Thai name for the illegal stimulant 'ya ba', or 'madness pill',
had failed to discourage its use, Deputy Health Minister Surapong
Suebwonglee said yesterday.

He told the ITV television network that his office was proposing to
change the drug's name again in hopes of discouraging would-be
addicts who may not wish to be associated with a drug that marks them
as stupid.

The drug's name was first changed in 1996 to 'ya ba' from the slang
term 'ya ma', or 'horse pill'.

The drug got its original nickname from manual labourers and truck
drivers, who believed that the pill made them feel as strong as a
horse. The use of the drug has now spread to all segments of society.

According to the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, seizures of
methamphetamine surged from 817 kg five years ago to 6.7 tonnes last
year. In the same period, the amount of confiscated heroin declined
from 405 kg to 360 kg.

The lives of an estimated 12.4 per cent of Thailand's 5.4 million
students are reported to be blighted by drugs.

To combat this alarming trend, Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit
Yongchaiyudh has given anti-narcotics officers six months to produce
tangible results in their war against drugs.

'With concrete measures and concerned authorities' efficiency, I
believe that anti-drug efforts should be successful in six months,'
Mr Chavalit was quoted as saying.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will chair a meeting of top
security officials in Thailand's drug-ravaged north this weekend to
map out a battle plan against the narcotics scourge.

'The drugs problem is deteriorating. If we do not act decisively our
country will become very weak as drugs will destroy the brains which
are our future,' he told reporters yesterday, before a preparatory
conference.

Mr Thaksin vowed to get tough on officials accused of involvement
with traffickers, no matter how highly ranked or well-connected, and
said his government will lay down a framework to suppress the drug
trade.

Government spokesman Yongyuth Tatiyapairat told reporters that Mr
Thaksin's administration will consider speeding up executions for
convicted drug traffickers.

It will also push for the executions to be publicised widely in an
effort to discourage would-be traffickers, he said.