Thailand should improve its criminal justice and public health systems and boost capacity-training support for neighbouring countries as Asean is in the final phase of becoming one community, the UNODC regional representative says.
Jeremy Douglas, head of the UN Regional Office on Drugs and Crime for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, also urged the region to implement surveillance mechanisms on drug trafficking as it becomes integrated logistically.
Mr Douglas was speaking at the launch of the annual International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report.
He told the Bangkok Post the judiciary should be given more resources to handle the backlog of court cases while drug rehabilitation centres should be set up within or near addicts' communities.
Regional cooperation is crucial as precursor chemicals used in drug production in neighbouring countries were mainly from India and China, said Mr Douglas.
Rachanikorn Sarasiri, deputy secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, said Thailand has been working with UNODC and INCB as it was aware of regional and global narcotics concerns.
Although opium cultivation in Thailand remains stable at a low level, there were increasing seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants, the UNODC report said.
Last year 100 million tablets were seized compared to 95.8 million the year before, while precursors for drug production have been easily transported to production sites around the country, said Ms Rachanikorn.
She conceded that more needs to be done to tackle drug syndicates.
As abuse of new psychoactive substances rises, Thailand has included BZP (N-benzylpiperazine), TFMPP (Trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine), mephedrone, methylone, and methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) on its national list of controlled substances, she said.
Last April, the government boosted measures to prevent the diversion of pseudoephedrine by issuing a notification prohibiting its transport in the country.
The UN was concerned that sufficient thought has not been given to implications of regional integration — and how it makes the links between chemicals, drugs and markets more efficient than ever, said the regional UNODC representative.
Southeast Asia is the world's second-largest producer of opium, after Afghanistan. Methamphetamine seizures reached record highs in 2012.
Mr Douglas suggested regional governments focus more on shipping container systems and the bulk trading supply as once trade volumes increase, so does the transportation of illicit chemicals.
"One of the unintended consequences of economic integration and looser national controls on chemical exports is that criminal organisations may gain access to legitimate supply chains of the chemicals needed to manufacture illicit drugs and can more easily export these precursor chemicals to drug-making markets abroad," he said.
The 2013 report also noted regional opium poppy cultivation has more than doubled since 2006, despite reports from Myanmar, Laos and Thailand showing that a total of 13,949 hectares of opium were eradicated in 2013.