Thai authority sets six-month target for solving drug problems

BANGKOK, January 12 (TNA) - The Ministry of Interior has targeted to concretely counter narcotic problems in Thailand’s central region with a promising progress within six months, in line with the government's newly-adopted 2012 national strategies against narcotics. To meet the target, Deputy Permanent Secretary for Interior Pracha Terat has instructed authorities and parties concerned to work collectively and seriously to prevent and suppress drug trade and addictions in local communities, as well as at industrial factories, entertainment venues, prisons and even schools in the central region. Pracha has also ordered the concerned authorities and parties to regularly inspect the narcotics-prone locations in their respective areas in order to turn them into the drug-free zones instead, saying that he believes the aggressive moves will result in a proactive progress over the next six months. Deputy National Police Chief Police General Watcharapol Prasanratchakij, meanwhile, has suggested communal campaigns against drugs and a practical US model against narcotics among youths be applied for Thai high-school students, a highest risk group for illicit drugs. (TNA)