Chiang Rai News

Fighting Drug and Gangs in the Chiang Rai’s Golden Triangle

Policemen from the Thai Marine Border Police patrolling along the Mekong river, which marks the border between Thailand and Laos in Chiang Saen, northern Chiang Rai province, aboard a machine-gun-mounted armored boat.

CHIANGRAI – A Thai police gunboat prowls the waters of the Mekong River searching for the drug gangs that haunt this territory deep in the Golden Triangle, an age-old smuggling route — with a new scourge.

At one time this frontier region, where the remote edges of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet, was awash with heroin, flooding over the border from the then world’s biggest opium producer Myanmar.

Policemen from the Thai Marine Border Police patrolling along the Mekong river, which marks the border between Thailand and Laos (background) in Chiang Saen, northern Chiang Rai province.

Times have changed and now the drug of choice is methamphetamine often in the form of “yaba” — Thai for “crazy medicine” — bound for the streets and clubs of Asia.

“It is very difficult to prevent drug trafficking into Thailand,” said general Manop Senakun, commander of police in Chiang Saen, the Thai town at the gateway to the Golden Triangle.

It is estimated that at least 1.4 billion yaba tablets — with an estimated street value of $8.5 billion — are being produced each year in the region.

The drug is mostly made in isolated mobile laboratories hidden in the forests of Shan State in Myanmar, which is still the second largest global source of opium after Afghanistan.

Police “tried every way” to stem the flow of narcotics, Manop said. But it was the notorious slaying of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong in 2011 that caused regional authorities to launch a concerted crackdown on trafficking.

China, from where the river snakes, has added its weight to the anti-trafficking efforts.

An operation dubbed “Mekong Safe” — led by Beijing with the involvement of its Golden Triangle neighbours — between late April and late June led to the arrest of 2,534 suspects and the seizure of almost 10 tons of drugs, according to Thai authorities.

China executed Myanmar drug lord Naw Kham for the sailor killings. The two boats involved, found with some 900,000 methamphetamine tablets on board and riddled with bullet holes, have been left to rust in Chiang Saen port.

“The frequent occurrence of drug-related crimes on the Mekong River has been effectively contained,” said the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar in June.

Policemen from the Thai Marine Border Police patrolling along the Mekong river.

A dedicated Thai unit of 30 policemen, with three boats, now patrols a 17-kilometre (11 mile) stretch of the river border.

But far from being deterred, as the crackdown starts to take effect on the river heavily-armed traffickers are finding alternative routes, with some choosing to trek with their valuable contraband through the jungle from Myanmar.

“(Traffickers) walk in a caravan with 20 to 30 people,” Manop said “They would have a lot of weapons with them.”

Clashes with the army or the police are common. In one incident in 2012, eight suspected traffickers were killed by security forces and Manop predicts things will only get “more violent”.

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy, a geographer at France’s CNRS national research centre, said he was “not convinced by the efficacy” of the river crackdown.

“We have a few cases of very high-profile seizures, but no real evaluation of how effective these patrols have been,” Chouvy said, adding that networks tend to be small in scale and “flexible”, so hard to track.

Corruption within the very forces meant to catch the smugglers is also a challenge in Thailand, according to the most recent US Department of State report on drugs.

Paradorn Pattanatabut, head of the National Security Council, which supervises the fight against trafficking in Thailand, said there was some truth in these claims, but vowed “severe punishments” for those found to be involved.

The drug problem is showing no signs of receding.

A policeman from the Thai Marine Border Police speaking to the Laotian crew of a boat after police went on board as part of a patrol along the Mekong river, which marks the border between Thailand and Laos in Chiang Saen, northern Chiang Rai province

While production of opium is a fraction of its height in the 1970s and 1980s, Myanmar’s cultivation of the drug has increased in recent years, to some 690 tonnes in 2012 — over 10 percent of the global total.

Tun Nay Soe of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok, said the level of production of both meth and opium were at “alarming levels” in the Golden Triangle area.

“I would say it is pretty much still at the epicentre of drug trafficking and production in the region,” he added.

The consequences are desperate — and close to home.

In Thailand alone, the UNODC estimated there are some 48,000 heroin addicts and around 600,000 yaba users.

“Despite all the (drug) suppression, it continues to be widespread,” said 53-year-old social worker Nisanart Trirat in Klongtoey, Bangkok’s largest slum.

She said said the narcotics problems “never decreased” in all her years working with addicts in the area.

Joon has tried almost everything — glue, valium, marijuana, yaba, ice, heroin — since he started abusing substances at 10 or 11 years old. As have many of his neighbours in Bangkok.

“When I walk in the slum areas, there will be some kids asking ‘brother, what do you want?’,” he said.

Joon has been clean since his recent release from prison for killing a man in a fight, the 35-year-old AIDS sufferer said after receiving treatment at his local methadone centre.

“I want to make my mom feel good. It’s my last chance — nowadays I am waiting for death,” he said, before strolling away with a friend, who appeared to be in the process of sniffing glue. – by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS

Chiang Rai News

Chiang Rai Man Kills Woman’s Infant Daughter When She Refuses His Sexual Advances

Police in Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai Province have arrested a 50 year old man after the threatened to rape a 20 year-old woman and the proceeded to murder her 2 and half month old baby.

Police with doctors from Wiang Kaen Hospital and the Chao Luang Wiang Kaen Welfare Association were summoned to the scene of the incident to a 2-story cement house, Village No. 2, Tha Kham Subdistrict, Wiang Kaen District of Chiang Rai

On arrival they found Ms. Chanikarn, age 20, in a state of distress crying uncontrollably beside her 2 and a half month baby girl (Linlada) that was dead on the floor.

After calming Ms. Chanikarn, the child’s mother, said that at approximately 2:30 p.m she was out to collect diapers that had been dried in front of the house, while her 2 and a half month old daughter was sleep on the ground floor of the house.

She said she was suddenly approached by a Mr. Lee, about 40 years old, who lived on the opposite side of the road. He came towards her and grabbed her arm and threatened her saying if she didn’t sleeping with him he will go and kill his daughter.

Miss Chanikan refused and ran away, then Mr. Lee then walked into the house and grabbed Ms. Linlada’s leg, smashing the child’s head against the cement floor of the house. The infant died immediately.

Mr. Lee then just walked away and returned to his own home, leaving Miss Chanikan and her dead baby.

When police went to Mr. Lee’s home he immediately confessed killing the infant and was taken to Wiang Kaen Police Station for further questioning. Under caution he told police that he was sexually attracted to Miss Chanikan‘s and when her husband leave for work he took the opportunity to approach her.

He said when he saw her husband leave he crossed that road and found Miss Chanikan in the yard alone, he then threatened her to sleep with him, saying he would kill her child if she didn’t have sex with him. However when she refused he flew into a fit of rage walked into her home and murdered he baby. He said he was out of control with rage.

After killing the infant he walk across the street to his home and waited for the police to arrive. The police have charged him with premeditated murder and attempted rape. He is being held without bail at the local remand center.

Meanwhile, Miss Chanikan and her family were preparing a religious burial ceremony for the child.

Other Chiang Rai News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Chiang Rai News

Police in Chiang Rai Launch Crackdown on Cyber Criminals in Golden Triangle

CHIANG RAI: Prime Minister Settha Thavisin has authorized the establishment of an emergency cyber center operated by the Royal Thai Police to combat transnational crimes committed by call center gangs along the Thai border in Chiang Rai province.

On July 19, Prime Minister Settha Thavisin directed the Center to combat information technology crimes. The Royal Thai Police (Royal Thai Police) will crack down on call center gangs in Myanmar, Laos, and along the border.

His directive comes as call center gangs ratchet up their scams to defraud people of their money, causing concern among Thais and jeopardizing the country’s economic and social stability.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, Assigned Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai Pitanilabut, Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Police/Deputy Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division, has launched the operation ‘Bombing the Thieves’ Bridge’ in collaboration with the CAT Office, G., mobile phone network operators AIS DTAC TRUE NT, and local security agencies to cut the mobile phone signal and WiFi internet that criminals illegally use to deceive Thai citizens.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division

Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai stated that they will begin pressing the first action of the ‘Explosion of Thieves’ Bridge’ in Chiang Rai Province toward the thieves’ base of operations in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

The territory surrounding King Roman in Laos. King Roman is now a full-service entertainment destination with an airport that welcomes travelers from Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, he explained.

According to Pol. Lt. Gen. Thatchai, this operation will have no influence on honest people along the Thai border, and it will only target cyber criminals.

They will also increase the arrest and prosecution of unlawful service towers, such as SIM booths, which allow gangs register SIM cards to swindle the people. Dealing with criminal organizations of foreigners and Thais who band together to deceive and damage Thais.

Pol. Gen. Kittirat Panphet, Deputy Commander and Director of the Police Crime Suppression Division

The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) suspended more than three million SIM cards on July 16 because the holders had not verified their identities with their mobile phone operators by the deadline, in accordance with the NBTC’s measures to combat alleged fraudsters’ mule accounts.

The names of the holders of 80 million mobile phone numbers used for mobile banking transactions did not match the names associated with the mobile banking accounts.

The NBTC would require mobile phone companies to authenticate SIM card holders and the names of their mobile banking accounts. The verification procedure is expected to be completed by the end of September this year.

In addition, the NBTC and Royal Thai Police have collaborated to combat illegal telecom towers throughout the country’s borders, disconnecting signals at 465 places, altering antenna direction at 470 towers, and dismantling antennas at 179 locations.

They are certain that the move will disrupt contact center gangs and other types of technology-based crime.

Other Chiang Rai News:

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/chiangrai-news/machete-wielding-man-shot-an-killed-by-police-in-chiang-rai/

Chiang Rai News

Machete Wielding Man Shot an Killed by Police in Chiang Rai

Police in Mae Chan, Chiang Rai, shot and killed a 28-year-old man who allegedly attacked a police officer with a machete. The officer was slashed in the right leg with the machete.

According to police, the culprit, known only as Mr. Toon, had been harassing local villagers in Mae Chan district, Chiang Rai, threatening them with a knife and using violet insults.

The village headman arrived on the scene to try to calm Mr. Toon, but he was shouting hysterically and taking swipes at him with the machete, so he contacted the police.

When the responding officer arrived at the site about 9 p.m., he attempted to calm the man, but he instead assaulted the officer, slashing his right leg with the machete. In self-defense, the cop had to fire his gun at Mr. Toon, striking him in the chest.

Mr. Toon and the policeman were taken to Mae Chan Hospital, where Mr. Toon died of a gunshot wound. Pol Sgt. Sutthikiat Phanomphraisakul was released from the hospital after receiving numerous stitches for his injuries.

Local police received a tip around 9.30 p.m. yesterday that a guy was causing mayhem in the village. When authorities arrived, they discovered 28-year-old Toon strolling along a public road, holding a large knife and threatening people. Mae Chan district officials attempted to contain the incident.

During a search of Mr. Toon’s home, authorities discovered methamphetamine consumption equipment. Locals told authorities that the man was addicted to Yaba (Methamphetamine) and an alcoholic.

The authorities are conducting an inquiry to determine Toon’s motivations and whether any underlying issues contributed to his violent outburst.