Phuket set to raise “tough on drugs’ flag

PHUKET TOWN: Police checks on former drug dealers and users are likely to be followed by Phuket being declared “a province strongly opposed to illegal drugs,” Phuket Governor CEO Pongpayome Vasaputi said yesterday. All being well, the declaration will be made on November 1, the Governor said, a month ahead of the national government’s deadline of December 2 in the campaign to suppress illegal drugs. The Governor told a meeting at Provincial Hall yesterday, “The illegal drugs situation is improving because officers are still cracking down on this problem. “In September, police will follow up to make sure that the drug dealers and addicts who surrendered when the government gave them a chance haven’t become involved with drugs again.” An officer at the Phuket Against Drugs Center told the Gazette that more than 50 of Thailand’s 76 provinces had already declared themselves strongly opposed to illegal drugs. At yesterday’s meeting, Gov Pongpayome added that police were now also checking through the list of “influential people” in Phuket – those who have accumulated wealth without having obvious legal means. These people fell into 15 different categories, he said, but half of them were connected with one category – the underground lottery.