By Itsarin Tisantia
Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
Thailand recently met seven other Asian countries to discuss how to prevent precursor chemicals, required for synthetic drug production, from being used to manufacture illegal drugs.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this meeting.
Regional cooperation is critical to effectively tackle the illicit cross-border shipments for trade and production of drugs, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said on February 9.
REGIONAL MEETING
Paiboon chaired an intergovernmental meeting on February 9 to discuss measures for the regulation of precursor chemicals to prevent contraband activities. Representatives from eight countries — Cambodia, China, India, South Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand — attended the conference.
Representatives exchanged information on narcotics production and trafficking, vowing to strengthen regional cooperation for a cohesive crackdown on illegal drugs trade in Asia.
SMUGGLING HUB
Paiboon stressed the importance of drug control, saying measures to prevent trafficking can only go so far without efforts to curb production.
Thailand is a hub for regional narcotics smuggling due to its northern border, through which chemical caches are smuggled from Myanmar and China, Paiboon said.
Myanmar authorities last year seized more than 10 million methamphetamine tablets and precursor stashes which could have produced up to 200 million pills, according to Paiboon.
GROUP DECISION
Permphong Chavalit, the secretary-general for the Narcotics Control Board, warned that any policy decision for precursor chemicals must be taken collaboratively, as each country has different regulations regarding synthetic compounds.
Because many legal pharmaceuticals can be diverted into illegal drugs, a precursor chemical may be considered a non-controlled substance in one country but be banned in another, Permphong explained.
Exercises
Specify whether each of the following words is used in the story as a verb, noun or adjective.
1. tackle ……………….
2. synthetic ……………….
3. crackdown ……………….
4. measures ……………….
Vocabulary
- synthetic (adj): made by combining chemical substances rather than being produced naturally by plants and animals
intergovernmental (adj): concerning the governments of two or more countries
contraband (n): goods that are illegally taken into or out of a country
cohesive (adj): forming a united whole
narcotic (n): a powerful illegal drug that affects the mind in a harmful way
cache (n): a hidden store of things such as weapons
pharmaceutical (n): a drug or medicine
