THROWING OFF THE STIGMA OF DRUGS

Good news has been slowly accumulating in and around Thailand that the
tide is turning against illicit drugs, and especially against the
criminals who make, sell and smuggle them. The latest small step
forward was the decision by US authorities that the significance of
the drug trade has dropped. President George W. Bush removed Thailand
from a list of 22 countries where there is big-time drug trafficking.
It is a realistic decision, although some will argue it could divert
attention from the hurricane of drug trafficking all around the calm
eye which is Thailand.

Thailand for a generation has been described in the president's annual
report as one of the "major drug-transit or major illicit
drug-producing countries". That no longer applies.

Mr Bush's report last week named 22 such countries, including
neighbours Burma, Laos and Vietnam. The list includes countries often
exploited by drug smugglers and traffickers, as well as those which
refuse to take tough action against known drug gangs.

President Bush cited a number of changes in Thailand, most of which
have occurred slowly but steadily.

Opium fields have been rare in Thailand for more than a decade, and no
heroin factory has even been suspected in the country for years.

The crackdown on local methamphetamine production has been steady and
effective.

Drugs are still produced in Thailand, and there are still traffickers
_ a prison guard was arrested with 4,000 speed pills for sale, and two
Taiwanese were arrested recently with 14kg of heroin bound for
Australia. But drug production and international trafficking have
fallen to the lowest points in memory.

The Thailand success story is far from complete.

Nor has it come without pain. President Bush's brief summary report on
the world's top drug-involved nations failed, for example, to mention
last year's murderous crackdown on drugs that turned into a literal
war. More than 2,000 people died in a six-month campaign, and the
government has refused to investigate any of the killings.

Thailand has reduced drug trafficking, a fact noticed by US
authorities. But the US State Department also believes the war on
drugs reduced the level of human rights in Thailand.

But the country can be generally proud of its 40-year campaign against
illicit drugs.

Without doubt, the greatest achievement was to wean indentured, poor
farmers off the opium poppy while providing them with superior,
alternative crops and markets.

A model for the world, the Thai crop replacement programme is being
aped in other countries.

A recent United Nations report said that crop replacement could end
opium production in Laos and even in Burma in just a few years.

The turn-around in Laos has been remarkable. The communist government
used to traffic in heroin.

Now, Vientiane is sponsoring projects to wipe out opium
fields.

This is a welcome development but requires urgent support from the
international community, including Thailand. Unless Lao farmers have
profitable crops to grow and markets in which to sell them, they will
revert to growing opium covertly.

The annual reports by the United Nations show that the opium-heroin
crime centre has shifted to Afghanistan. This must not divert
attention from Burma, which has accepted major trafficking by allies
of the military dictatorship, especially the United Wa State Army. In
recent years, Rangoon has taken action against the most blatant heroin
merchants and amphetamine gangs. But drug trafficking remains one of
the country's biggest industries. The generals have remained on good
professional and social terms with some of the biggest drug
traffickers in the world.

Between North Korea and Afghanistan, Burma is Asia's biggest producer
and seller of illicit drugs.

The recognition from the United States that Thailand is no longer a
major player in world trafficking is welcome.

It is a major milestone in the battle against illicit
drugs.

It is important to keep the pressure on those countries still on the
list, and the gangs that exploit them.