Thailand, Cambodia discuss drug fight

Thailand, Cambodia discuss drug fight

Thai and Cambodian authorities on Monday discussed closer cooperation in combating cross-border drug trafficking between Trat and Cambodia's Koh Kong province.

In a meeting in Koh Kong, Thai and Cambodian representatives addressed measures to bolster drug controls.

The Thai delegation was led by Khlong Yai district chief Thirapol Sirinanuwat, while the Cambodian side was headed by deputy Koh Kong governor Paitoon Phramkesorn.

Mr Paitoon said the drug situation in the Cambodian province has worsened this year.

Poor training of anti-drug personnel and a lack of drug-testing and communications equipment was contributing to the problem, he said.

The drug situation had started to improve after the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) intervention late last year, he said.

But Mr Thirapol said the UNODC programme for local authorities did not focus on suppression operations.

It instead involved exchanging information such as details about the local drug situation, smuggling routes, types  of drugs and traffickers, he said.

Meanwhile, Trat's Bo Rai district and Chanthaburi's Khaeng Hang Maew district have become new targets of illegal loggers of protected phayung (Siamese rosewood) trees.

Capt Noppadol Thitawattanasakul, commander of Trat's marine taskforce, said smugglers were targeting the two districts due to the dwindling stocks of phayung trees in other areas along the Thai-Cambodian border.

Officials were stepping up efforts against the poachers, who appear to have found new routes into Thai forests, he said.

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