THAILAND HAILS VICTORY IN WAR ON DEALERS

Thailand has proclaimed that its bloody, three-month war against the drug
trade - which has seen the deaths of 2,275 people accused of peddling drugs
- - had eliminated 90 per cent of the country's drug trade.

Thai authorities said that during the campaign they arrested 17,000 people,
seized 15m amphetamine pills and confiscated assets worth Bt1.1bn
($26m, 23.5m, UKP16m) from suspected drug dealers.

Thaksin Shinawatra, prime minister, said the effort had "eradicated about
90 per cent" of Thailand's drug problem, although final mop up operations
could take another six months.

With the declaration of victory, Mr Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai (Thais
Love Thais) party government are expected soon to launch a crackdown on the
estimated 1m illegal migrants working in Thailand.

"He is on a roll and he feels invincible," said Sunai Phasuk, a political
analyst with the independent human rights group Forum Asia. "He has gotten
away with this and the big question now is: who is next?"

The launch of Mr Thaksin's three-month war on drugs was accompanied by
comments from senior ministers that "bad guys deserve to die". Local
officials were assigned ambitious numerical targets for "getting rid of
drug dealers", while those who balked were reminded of ancient kings who
"beheaded" officials for failing to meet goals.

The subsequent deaths of more than 2,275 people - many of whom were
dispatched by motorcycle-borne gunmen after answering summons to their
local police stations - sparked fierce criticism from human rights groups.

But Mr Thaksin appears unlikely to suffer any domestic or international
backlash for the violence, which he blamed largely on drug dealers killing
each other. Police say they killed 51 suspects who were resisting arrest.

For all the bloodshed, many analysts suspect the campaign will have only a
passing impact on a trade that is controlled by shadowy, more senior figures.

"This must be viewed as a political war," said a diplomat. "This is a
marketing government that has responded to popular demand. It's a branding
exercise."

An effort to drive illegal migrant workers out of Thailand is likely to
find equal favour among an increasingly nationalistic Thai public.

Local newspapers accuse illegal workers - mostly from Thailand's neighbours
Burma and Cambodia - of spreading disease, violence and depressing local wages.