DRUGS WAR ENTERS STAGE-TWO IN THAILAND

Thailand's Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, has announced a second
phase of his controversial war on drugs, vowing to destroy drug bosses.

Mr Thaksin says he needs to maintain his drastic approach because drug
dealers are destroying the future.

He has ordered school principals to keep a close eye on students and
directed village chiefs to monitor unemployed youths, the main targets
of drug dealers.

The main weapon in the current drive will be legal restraints,
including anti-money laundering and tax evasion laws.

The war is aimed mainly at dealers of methamphetamines, made in jungle
laboratories in Burma.

More than 2,500 people were killed during the first 10-month crackdown
last year, but the government says most of those killed were victims
of warfare between drug gangs or killed in self defence.