Drug use “could rise’ in tsunami aftermath

PHUKET: Drug use and drug-related crime could rise as people lose their jobs because of the slump in tourism brought on by the tsunami, the Deputy Commander of Phuket Provincial Police has warned.

Pol Col Kokiat Wongvorachart said, “The tsunami affected so many people. Employees of big, medium-sized and small companies, laborers and the self-employed have all found themselves out of work.

“Only a few tourists are coming to Phuket, but the labor force is still the same size, and people still have to have money to live.

“If people have no job and no income, they may well turn to crime to get the money they need, or to drugs in order to escape from the reality of their situation.”

Col Kokiat added that the government’s crackdown on drugs had led to a 40% reduction in arrests for drug dealing and drug use in Phuket last year.

He continued, “We are still on the lookout for big dealers, but we haven’t seen anything around Rassada Port and Bang Rong Pier that could be related to the shipment of drugs.”