The Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) is seeking to monitor the import of chemicals used to produce illicit drugs in a move key for the narcotics crackdown, according to ONCB secretary-general Permphong Chavalit.
Currently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Industrial Works (DIW) oversee the import of hazardous substances while the ONCB can only propose measures to curb the chemicals, said Mr Permphong.
The ONCB, the DIW and the FDA plan to meet this week to discuss whether ONCB staff can be authorised to participate in the import supervision process, either under a cabinet resolution or the Commodity Control Act. They would be licenced to inspect drug imports.
"Thailand generally uses 78 chemicals in making medicine and the industrial sector, but four of them must be controlled and examined as they can be used as precursors or chemicals to produce narcotics," said Mr Permphong.
The precursor chemicals commonly used in drug production are methylene chloride, sodium carbonate, ammonium chloride and sodium cyanide.
Meanwhile, the Asean-Narco group - a network of 10 Southeast Asian countries plus China, South Korea and Japan - met for a workshop with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok Monday to discuss forming a shared narcotics database.
The database could help investigations into drug cases and crackdowns on narcotics ring leaders, Mr Permphong said.
Asean-Narco, formed last year to tackle cross-border drug problems in the sub-region, is now in the second phase of a three-phase development plan aiming to eradicate narcotics production and trafficking. Improving information flows between member nations is seen as a key weapon in the drugs fight.
Members produced an Asean drug report in the first phase and are now working to compile information to create the narcotics database. After the database is developed, Asean-Narco plans to establish a so-called Centre of Excellence, to examine drugs and function as a hub for operations to combat production.