Thailand joins GMS neighbors in launching anti-drug campaign in Mekong River

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - Thailand will join other member countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) in launching a joint campaign to prevent and suppress drug trafficking in the Mekong River in December 2014. Permpong Chavalit, Secretary-General of the Bangkok-based Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), told journalists on Wednesday that Thailand's anti-drug campaign in the Mekong River next month will be jointly launched with Myanmar, Laos and China. Permpong stated that areas along the Mekong River have been occupied by ethnic groups and only 20 per cent of narcotics transported through the river have been intercepted. The ONCB chief mentioned two narcotic smuggling routes to Thailand, one is on land and connects to Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai Provinces in the Thai North, while the other is through the Mekong River and Laos to the Thai Northeast. (TNA)