It is not easy at all to help someone to quit drugs. Especially for me, as I have a habit of doing bad things when I am angry with someone and also I could get tempted to take drugs myself. Things are not going well in my life. I have to work extra hard to earn money not only for day-to-day things but also to pay back the loan sharks. We owe a lot of money mainly because of the high price of drugs but also because of my gambling debts.

It was not so long ago that the present Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, declared a war with all the drug dealers in Thailand. As far as I know, I think this is the first time that someone has really shown that they are concerned about and really going to do something about the drug situation in Thailand.

Myself, as a former drug addict, I know pretty well about how bad this problem was. I really have to say that it was very easy for me to buy drugs back then when I was still at school. They were around all over the place. All you needed was some money and then it’s like click! A few minutes later you got the drugs to take.

Thaksin was really being very serious about this problem and he also made an announcement that he would get rid of all kinds of drugs in just three months. We have since called that period of time, “The Drugs War”. I was really happy and excited about this project as finally my country would be drugs free!

It was a very big war between the Thai government and all the drug dealers in Thailand. The policemen were working really hard, trying to arrest the drug dealers. Most of the papers, magazines, television programs, etc. were all reporting about the situation with drugs, which was really getting more serious and serious every day.

At the start, they were arresting the small-time dealers. The policemen would then use these people as a way to get to the bigger dealers and so on. That was the main reason that the situation was getting worse every day. All the big dealers then went around and killed all the smaller dealers just for their own safety.

After a while, the situation was starting to get pretty much out of control. I began to hear more about people getting killed rather than being arrested with drugs. This was becoming more and more about murdering than about the Thai government fighting against the drug dealers.

Unsurprisingly, not all the people that were killed during this tragedy were drug dealers. There were quite a few innocent people and teenagers that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who knows? Some bodies that were found with drugs back then might not have been dealers. It’s possible that whoever killed the person might have just put a few pills in the pocket to make it look like a drug dealer.

Tell you the truth, I was very nervous walking down the road, as there might be some people who didn’t like me, come along and shoot me. All they had to do then was put some drugs in my pocket. That way I am pretty sure that the policemen would guess I am a dealer as I have a police record for taking drugs! What do you think?

After the three months had passed, the Prime Minister said the “drug war” was successful. But it is a shame that he couldn’t really get rid of the drugs and make the country free from drugs. The drugs are still around in the country waiting for the time to get back to business as usual. The reason I know it well is because what I said in the last story, “the drug dealers are again selling in my city!”

Come back next week to read about the consequences of the “drugs war” even though the government said it’s over.