PHUKET: Anti-human trafficking volunteers from a town north of Phuket have nabbed three youths as they mixed illegal kratom leaves with cough syrup for sale last night.
The volunteers, who spend most time at a 24-hour checkpoint that is being credited with turning the tide against trafficking along the Andaman coast, have become anti-drugs, too.
Since October, when the checkpoint was established in reaction to the local trade in people becoming a ''cottage industry,'' traffickers are known to have had to change their route.
Traditionally, locals have worked with traffickers in trucking cargoes of people south from the province of Phang Nga to the Thai-Malaysia border.
However, the Takuapa district chief, Manit Pleantong, staged a grassroots uprising in October, apprehending large numbers of boatpeople in place of police and other officials.
For the first time in Thailand, boatpeople were declared human trafficking victims instead of being automatically assessed as illegal migrants - and fodder for an immediate return to the traffickers.
For his key role in changing the thinking among Andaman coast residents, Khun Manit was judged to be the Phuketwan Person of the Year 2014.
Few traffickers have been detected along the Phang Nga coast as the volunteers have helped to exhume the bodies of victims from nearby island camps. The brutality and the deaths extended south to the jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysia border.
Despite doubts that the volunteer system would continue to operate for long, the checkpoint is still stopping every vehicle heading south along the main road north of Takuapa - and the volunteers continue trying to make the district a better place.
The three youths apprehended about 7pm last night were handed over to officers at Talad Yai police station for further action.
The volunteers, who spend most time at a 24-hour checkpoint that is being credited with turning the tide against trafficking along the Andaman coast, have become anti-drugs, too.
Since October, when the checkpoint was established in reaction to the local trade in people becoming a ''cottage industry,'' traffickers are known to have had to change their route.
Traditionally, locals have worked with traffickers in trucking cargoes of people south from the province of Phang Nga to the Thai-Malaysia border.
However, the Takuapa district chief, Manit Pleantong, staged a grassroots uprising in October, apprehending large numbers of boatpeople in place of police and other officials.
For the first time in Thailand, boatpeople were declared human trafficking victims instead of being automatically assessed as illegal migrants - and fodder for an immediate return to the traffickers.
For his key role in changing the thinking among Andaman coast residents, Khun Manit was judged to be the Phuketwan Person of the Year 2014.
Few traffickers have been detected along the Phang Nga coast as the volunteers have helped to exhume the bodies of victims from nearby island camps. The brutality and the deaths extended south to the jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysia border.
Despite doubts that the volunteer system would continue to operate for long, the checkpoint is still stopping every vehicle heading south along the main road north of Takuapa - and the volunteers continue trying to make the district a better place.
The three youths apprehended about 7pm last night were handed over to officers at Talad Yai police station for further action.
Great to see that the volunteers remain vigilant!
Posted by Ian Yarwood on June 10, 2015 09:53