War on drugs

re: "11 drug plants 'churn out 20m pills a day'" (BP, April 9)

Dear editor,

The evidence of decades is as consistent as it is compelling: the only reason to criminalize the personal decisions of adults that do not harm others is to profit mafia scum and their loyally corrupt officials, judges and law makers. Thailand's wilful persistence in known failures is proof only that the law makers and officials find it highly rewarding to pursue drug policies disastrous to Thai society with no concern for that society beyond their own purely self-serving interests.

The notable exception has been General Paiboon Koomchaya, who was promptly side-lined out of his post as Justice Minister when he proposed sensible reforms that are long overdue. This sensible man gave the ruling junta an opportunity to actually introduce solid reforms to benefit the Thai nation: it was rejected, presumably for the usual reasons so that the mafia cartels could continue reaping billions from the monopoly kindly granted them by Thai law makers. Meanwhile, Thai families continue to bear the appalling cost of the indefensible policies inflicted on them by Thai politicians, and since the military also has vested interests in the suppression of Thai adults regarding recreational choices specifically, being paid by the state to engage in costly Ramboesque escapades, along with suppression of freedom of Thai adults to decide their own lives generally, it is not credible that the recurring military coups bear a large part of the responsibility for the harm that addictive drugs continue to inflict.

 Felix Qui

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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.

The text as edited was published in PostBag on April 10, 2018, under the title "War on drugs" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/1443859/war-on-drugs