Thaksin Shinawatra: Wants to send deterrent message

The new Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, is trying to send a deterrent message to the country's growing number of drug users.

Every year, the Thai authorities bring out large amounts of the narcotics they have confiscated and set them ablaze in a well-publicised ceremony.

However, this year the government is trying to send a tougher message.

One convicted drug smuggler was executed right at the beginning of the Thai New Year holiday.

Losing battle

The government plans several other initiatives, like giving schoolchildren tours of prisons to show them how unpleasant life is there.

The reason is that Thailand is losing the battle against drugs.

Methamphetamines: Made over the border in Burma

The latest scourge is methamphetamines, which are made in laboratories just over the border in Burma and smuggled into Thailand in huge quantities.

The police predict that 800 million of the highly-addictive tablets will enter Thailand this year - enough to give 12 of them to every person in the country.

Hundreds of thousands of Thais are already dependent on the drug.

US help

The government has also invited the United States to help train its troops along the Burmese border.

Details of the operation are sketchy, but it is reported that US special forces will soon be brought in to help the Thais to curb the flow of narcotics.

Most of the methamphetamines are produced by the ethnic Wa Army, which is closely allied to the Burmese military.

After he took office early this year, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra declared drugs to be the country's number one enemy.

The range of anti-drug measures now being considered by the government is clear evidence of its alarm over the serious impact of narcotics on Thai society.