Project War on Drugs in Thailand

In 2002, the King of Thailand, Rama IX Phumipon Adulyadej, noted an increase in drug use in the country and called for a “war on drugs”. The king's secret adviser called on the government to create a special court over drug dealers. In 2003, the government of Thaksin Shinavat (2001-2006) proclaimed that from now on the fight against drug trafficking will be carried out with all determination and all measures. A special government plan to combat drug trafficking was approved, especially in the south of the country. Thaksin announced War on Drugs. In 2003, the Thaksin Shinawatra government announced the main task of this project - to save every square inch of the country from drugs in three months ^[2] .

In several provinces ( Narativat , Yala , Songkla , Pattani ) special operations were carried out, during which the militants of drug cartels who protected the poppy fields and secret trails of drug dealers were destroyed. Government officials in central Thailand and in the provinces were supposed to conduct their own investigations to find drug dealers: those who executed the “plan” were encouraged, and those who were not — were punished. In the first 3 months of the project, 2,275 people were killed (twice as many as during the usual fight against drugs). The government claimed that only 50 deaths were caused by the police, the other drug addicts killed each other themselves. Critics of human rights argued that most people were executed without trial. The policy was effective - drug use was declining (especially in schools) due to the increase in drug prices. The king in 2003 praised Thaksin, criticized those who tried to count the number of people killed because of the police, and not those who died due to dependence. In addition, the king of Thailand demanded to investigate the killings. Thailand has been heavily criticized by the international community. In the wake of criticism, Thaksin Shinavat asked the UN Commission on Human Rights to send a special envoy to Thailand to assess the situation in the country ^[3] .

Subsequently, after the overthrow of Thaksin, a special investigation revealed the horrific facts of mass extrajudicial killing of special services with suspects: according to a special government body supervising the circulation of narcotic drugs, about 2,500 people were killed during the sweeps, of which 1,400 did not have any participation data in drug trafficking or about rendering any assistance or assistance to drug dealers and drug couriers ^[4] . Already in 2004, facts began to surface in the press, which caused repeated mass rallies in Bangkok and in the southern provinces. In 2006, on several national television channels, human rights programs were broadcast several times, in which eyewitnesses told about the crimes of the Thaksin government during the War on Drugs project. Many of the journalists and human rights defenders who raised this topic have also been subjected to extrajudicial repression. Some of them disappeared without a trace ^[1] .