ASEAN set to become drug-free zone by 2015

BANGKOK, August 31 (TNA) - Thailand hosted a special meeting of ASEAN ministers tasked with anti-narcotics in Bangkok on Friday, as the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plans to become a world drug free zone by 2015, with Myanmar considered to be a key to achieve the goal. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung inaugurated the meeting at the Shangri-La Hotel in the capital earlier in the day, with a common goal of all ASEAN member countries to effectively control narcotics by 2015 being on top of the agenda. During the one-day special forum, the 10 ASEAN member nations jointly worked out policies and action plans to prevent and suppress narcotic production, trade and abuse, with results from the meeting set to be presented before the next ASEAN Summit later this year. Chalerm maintained that ASEAN member states intend to prevent narcotics from affecting the regional society by 2015, when the ASEAN Single Community is scheduled to be formed, acknowledging that the 10-nation bloc has pinned its hope on Myanmar, as Tachilek Province in Myanmar has been known to be a root cause of narcotic problems. According to the deputy Thai premier, if anti-drug missions were successful in Tachilek, narcotic problems in ASEAN should be relieved. (TNA)