Homepage > Thai Youth Issues > Teenagers fall under drug cloud

Date: 31st August 1998, The Nation

Everyday more teenagers become addicted to amphetamines or involved in the increasingly nasty trade of ya ba, a social scourge which is being emboldened by economic woes. Opas Boonlom, Chularat Saengpassa and Preecha Sa-ardson report on Thailand's biggest and most formidable ''enemy within''.

THE four teenagers have different characters. New, 17, looks like a well-mannered student. Art, 18, appears bold and adventurous. Noom, 18, is talkative and cheerful. Ae, 17, is sad and an introvert.

They have a few things in common, though: The boys are heavily addicted to amphetamines and some of them have peddled the drug. And they all are at the Ubekkha rehabilitation centre, Thailand's biggest juvenile drug treatment facility.

The number of children arrested on drug-related charges has sharply escalated since 1996, the year amphetamines surged ahead of heroin in terms of popularity among youngsters. Statistics from the Central and Juvenile Court show that in the first half of this year 9,506 youths were tried, close to the number of 10,286 tried in all of last year.

Drug abuse cases have topped the list since 1996, when youths tried in drug-related cases reached 6,031, whereas previously crimes like theft always secured top place among youth crimes. Of the drug-related offences this year, 80 per cent of the youths were charged with drug abuse and 20 per cent for selling illegal drugs.

Art's association with amphetamines began simply enough. He met an old friend who asked him to try. But when the addiction became more severe and money scarcer, he decided to peddle the drug himself.

''At first I started as a customer-cum-middleman. I bought the drug for myself and at the same time offered to buy the drug for some of my addicted friends, making a profit of Bt20 a pill. Sometimes when I had no money to buy the drug for myself but managed to act as a middleman, I was paid in pills,'' the boy said.

When word of the mouth spread that Art ''has ya ba to sell'', the number of his ''customers'' grew and the syndicate trusted him to be a full-time peddler. For a short while, he lived like a millionaire, his daily profits rising to thousands of baht.

He earned enough to buy a motorcycle so that he could disguise himself as a taxi motorcyclist. At first only friends in the neighbourhood were his customers, but as his ''business connections'' expanded, he needed greater mobility.

''I was caught one day when I was going to see a customer on my bike,'' the teenager said.

While Art was caught red-handed, New said he was ''unfortunate'' to be arrested. Police were rounding up two groups of brawling students and New, who happened to be at the scene but was not involved, was caught in the dragnet. He had a few amphetamines pills in his pocket.

''My dad and mom cried their hearts out. They hadn't known before I was addicted to ya ba,'' New said.

''I used drugs because my folks fought everyday. He got drunk everyday and kicked or beat mom. Sometimes he scolded me or slapped me. I became addicted to heroin first but it was too expensive. My senior friends at school asked me to try ya ba, saying it can give the same effect.''

New has pledged to give up the drug and be a ''good son''.

Noom has been at the centre for three months because of similar reasons -- friends and family problems. His father was a gambling addict who took all the money his wife earned as a food vendor.

''A friend told me to try, saying the drug can make me as active as a horse,'' he said.

He became heavily addicted, needing to 10 pills a day. He could afford the high consumption of ya ba because one of his friends often stole thousands of baht from his rich parents.

A snooker parlour was their hang-out. It was here that he and his friends met members of a syndicate who would later turn them into peddlers.

Ae was also from a broken family. His father returned home one day to find his wife with another man. The parents fought and agreed to separate, leaving Ae with the mother and her hew husband.

''I quarrelled with the guy often and one day I ran away to live with a friend, whose father owned a foodshop,'' he said. At the foodshop he met new friends, and one of them asked him to try amphetamines.

''I was hooked immediately,'' he said.

One day the friend took him to a shophouse in Charansanitwong Soi 29. The owner of the ''grocery'' offered to give him Bt40 a pill if he peddled 200 amphetamines pills for him.

''I sold them off in just one day. Some of my customers bought from me to sell to others,'' Ae said.

''All my friends at school are addicted. One of them has a father who is a big ya ba agent. Some food vendors are disguised peddlers.''

The boy hopes to kick the drug habit and start a new life. ''I want to work at a Seven Eleven store or become a messenger in a company. I don't want to go back to my old slum home. It was crowded and all you heard was people scolding one another. Most of all, it's a neighbourhood where drug is rampant,'' he said.

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