REPORT OF THE THIRD DRUG CONTROL COOPERATION MEETING BETWEEN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA AND THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND, 23-25 FEBRUARY 2004, PHUKET PROVINCE

The 3rd Drug Control Cooperation Meeting between the People's Republic of China and the Kingdom of Thailand was held at the Patong Merlin Hotel in Phuket, Thailand during 23-25 February 2004.

The meeting proceeded as follows:

1. Opening Ceremony
The governor of Phuket Province expressed warm welcome to Chinese and Thai Delegation attending the 3rd Thailand-China Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation at Phuket Province. He reconfirmed the commitment of the Thai government, including Phuket Province to eliminate drug problem that has adversely affected to the well being of people and society. He also expressed concern for drug smuggling trend changing from the land route to the sea route especially the Andaman Sea. In January 2001, the significant operation of the joint-cooperation of DEA of America, Malaysian Police Department, CCDAC of Myanmar, Royal Thai Navy and ONCB of Thailand resulted in the arrest of drug smugglers and seizure of 116 kgs. of heroin and almost 8 million tablets of methamphetamine. These drugs were smuggled from Myanmar to Malaysia via the Andaman Sea.

The meeting was opened by the chairperson, Mrs. Rasamee Vistaveth, Deputy Secretary-General of the Narcotics Control Board of Thailand and Head of Thai Delegation. She expressed warm welcome to Chinese Delegation to the third Thailand-China Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation. She noted that the Thai government had placed high priority to fight against drugs on her national agenda. In this regard, cooperation with other related countries, particularly China, is also one of the important national strategies. She further stated that China and Thailand were like brotherhoods in term of their close and long term relationship. Moreover, since the MOU was signed in 2001, China and Thailand have enjoyed closer coordination and cooperation in combating against drugs, including drug intelligence exchange, law enforcement cooperation, the mutual study visit, airport interdiction, opium survey by remote sensing technique, and so on. She also expressed appreciation for the mutual efforts of China and Thailand to make this region a drug free zone.

Head of the Chinese Delegation, Mr. Wang Qianrong, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Narcotics Control Commission of P.R. China, expressed his sincere gratitude for the warm hospitality extended to his delegation and the great arrangement of the meeting by the ONCB. He remarked that the Chinese government placed great importance to the cooperation with Thailand. He further stated that since the relationship on drug control between China and Thailand was set up, closer and meaningful cooperation, particularly intelligence sharing had continuously been promoted. He believed that the joint effort would successfully result in the effective drug control cooperation.

2. Adoption of the Agenda

3. Briefing on Current Drug Situation of China and Thailand
Mr. Apikit Ch. Rojprasert, Chief of Precursor Control Section, Narccotics Law Enforcement Bureau, ONCB presented the current drug situation of Thailand. He informed the meeting that four major types of drugs of drug abuse were methamphetamine, opium, heroin and ecstasy. He also mentioned four trafficking syndicates functioning in Thailand, namely ethnic Chinese syndicate, West African syndicate, Singaporean and Malaysian syndicates and Thai syndicate. He further stated that the war on drugs campaign was launched by the Thai government and divided into 3 phases. The first phase (February-April 2003) focused on controlling every single area throughout the country in order to destroy the drug cycle. The second phase (May-November 2003) focused on strengthening the local community. The third phase (December 2003-September 2004) focused on maintaining the sustainability of strong community. The result of war on drugs (February-December 2003) was quite impressive with the arrest of 2,676 major drug traffickers, 22,315 drug pushers, 39.34 million tablets of Yaba, 2,877 million baht of asset forfeiture and the self-report of 44,132 drug traffickers/pushers and 329,336 of drug abusers.

Chinese Delegation showed interest in many issues, including situation of marijuana in Thailand, Thailand’s asset seizure, and additional details about war on drugs and its accomplishment.

In response to the enquiries of Chinese Delegation, Thai Delegation briefed marijuana situation in Thailand in which had been used as transit country for smuggling marijuana from Lao PDR., and Cambodia to the third country for the past ten years. In addition, for asset forfeiture Thai Delegation noted that the use of asset seized from the suspect would be placed under the consideration of Sub-Committee on Asset Forfeiture and Examination. Regarding war on drugs campaign in Thailand, Thai Delegation further stated that the government took drug problem seriously and the Prime Minister himself chaired a series of meetings on narcotics control composing of the whole Cabinet, the head of agencies concerned, governors and police commanders of every province. In addition, several polls showed much satisfaction of the public to the Government’s war on drugs. Thailand also attempted to maintain the better drug situation by seeking the cooperation from neighboring countries, such as Myanmar, Lao PDR. and China.

Mr. Han Xuguang, Chief of the Intelligence Division of ONNCC, presented drug situation in China. He mentioned the achievement of China in the fight against drugs in term of suppression and law enforcement. In 2003, there were 93,853 cases of drug crimes, 63,734 drug suspects and the arrest of 9.54 tons of heroin, 0.9 ton of opium, 5.83 tons of methamphetamine, 0.41 million tablets of methamphetamine and 0.7 ton of marijuana. He also said that China was facing an increasing threat of drugs from the Golden Triangle and the Golden Crescent. In this regard, Yunnan and Guangdong were the main transit for drug trafficking. Last year Yunnan province seized 695 kgs of methamphetamine and found more syndicates operating in the province. Moreover, ATS production and precursor chemicals still remained issues of concern for Chinese drug law enforcement. At the same time, the drug consumption market continued to expand and the number of registered drug users also kept increasing. He further stated that methamphetamine producers mostly came from South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan Province of China.

4. Follow-up the Progress of Activities under previous Thailand –China Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation
The meeting was divided into two working groups. The first working group was on law enforcement. The second was on demand reduction and alternative development.

The working group proceeded discussion on the topics in the agenda 4 as follows:

4.1 Law Enforcement Working Group
The Law Enforcement Working Group was co-chaired by Mr. Chartchai Sutthiklom, Deputy Secretary-General, NCB and Mr. Wang Qianrong, Deputy Secretary-General of the National Narcotics Control Commission of China. The list of delegates attending the working group appears as Annex 3.

4.1.1 Intelligence
China by ONNCC delivered 15 samples of drugs seized to ONCB comprising five methamphetamine tablets, five samples of crystal methamphetamine and five samples of ephedrine for drug analyzing. ONCB found that the methamphetamin sample was seized at Chongqing in 2001 is possible that origination may come from the same refinery with the shipment that ONCB had seized from Andaman Sea in 2001. For five samples of Crystal Methamphetamine, it was found that the impurity was very low and was produced from high-quality chemicals, equipment and refinery. For five samples of Ephedrine which come from the same source have less different impurity.

4.1.2 Operation
Both sides have shared and discussed on information regarding several cases which involved syndicates among Thailand, China, and Myanmar. Thus the meeting agreed to have tripatite workshop on cases operation which will be held in Chaing rai, Thailand in March 2004.

4.1.3 Precursor
Thailand and China satisfied with the outcome of information exchange through Pre-export Notification (PEN). Moreover, both sides shared the information on back tracking of the seizure, made by ONCB in November 2003, of two rotary punching machines for drug production which originated from China.

4.1.4 Joint Mekong Action Plan
According to the ministerial meeting held in Beijing among China, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand, the Joint Mekong Survey was conducted and later the Joint Mekong Action Plan was formulated and proposed to the participating countries for consideration.

The Meeting agreed to support this Action Plan. Prioritized activities should be carried out such as regular contact of each port, procurement of necessary equipment and communication network. In this regard, China showed her willingness to provide the training courses to Lao PDR and Myanmar. Thailand is also invited to participate in these courses.

4.2 Demand Reduction Working Group
The Demand Reduction Working Group was chaired by Mrs. Rasamee Vistaveth, Deputy Secretary-General, NCB. The list of delegates attending the working group appears as Annex 4.

4.2.1 Study Visit According to the MOU
Thai Delegation stated that Thailand and China had exchanged several study visits after the MOU was signed in 2001. For the year 2004, Thai Delegation proposed to invite Chinese Delegation for a study visit in Thailand during 6-12 June 2004 and asked for the possibility of China arranging a study visit in China for Thai Delegation during 24-28 May 2004. Thai Delegation further noted that additional visits could also be arranged on each country’s own expense.

Chinese Delegation agreed to Thai proposal of the additional study visit and suggested that the MOU study visit to Thailand should be held in August 2004 and will confirm the exact date of the MOU study visit later on.

4.2.2 Opium Survey by Remote Sensing Technique
Thai Delegation briefed the situation of opium survey that the French government currently provided assistance for setting up the regional training center for remote sensing technique in Thailand. In this regard, training for the trainer course and advance equipment were also provided by the French government. Moreover, Thailand used to provide training on remote sensing technique for Myanmar and Lao PDR. Thai Delegation proposed that exchange of experiences and cooperation between China and Thailand on remote sensing technique should be discussed in details during the study visit to China. Thai Delegation further noted that China and Thailand should cooperate with each other in providing training course for Myanmar and Lao PDR.

Chinese Delegation agreed that the possible cooperation on remote sensing technique should be further discussed by the two countries during the study visit that will be arrange later on in each countries.

4.2.3 Alternative Development
Thai Delegation stated that China and Thailand joined the leading role on providing assistance on alternative development to their neighboring countries and even shared three major common characteristics of their approaches regarding the promotion of food security; income generating via agricultural activities; and non-government organization’s role. Thai Delegation further stated that Thailand currently provided assistance to Myanmar on alternative development and was requested to provide the similar assistance to Lao PDR. The Thai Delegation also shared Thai experiences on AD project regarding the way to solve the problem of market access that the promotion of AD product was based on the need of Thai domestic market. At present, Thailand provided support to Myanmar under the AD project on growing soy bean for a short-term plan and maccademia nut for a long-term plan. Thai Delegation also proposed to further discuss on exchange of information and market access of AD product, including setting up the favorable condition for AD product.

Chinese Delegation exchanged the information of AD Project, especially for the tax free for AD product of Myanmar and Loa PDR. The kinds of AD product included rubber, rice, soy bean, sugar cane and fruit, etc. Chinese Delegation also noted that China’s AD project, particularly in Yannan province shared similar mechanism with Thailand in term of the involvement of many agencies concerned. Chinese Delegation expressed willingness to cooperate with Thailand on AD project and agreed to discuss this issue during the next study visit.

4.2.4 Exchange of Drug Prevention Media
Thai Delegation presented some Thai prevention media to Chinese Delegate including VCD, posters and bookmarks and extended an invitation to Chinese Delegation to visit the ONCB office in Bangkok so that additional information could be provided. Chinese Delegation showed interest in many issues such as prevention measures for the young, how to deal with deviant behavior especially in entertainment complex. In response to the enquiry of Chinese Delegation, Thai delegation exchanged the information of preventive measures for the youth that there were a wide range of rules and regulations set up to control the entertainment complex. Punishment would be applied to the owner of the entertainment complex and the negligent state authorities. Drug abuser would also be sent to attend a compulsory treatment program. Thai Delegation further noted that the youth would be persuaded to attend alternative activities in order to stay away from drugs. Moreover, knowledge about drugs, including the harm of drug and life skills was also incorporated into the school curriculum. At the same time, the general public would be encouraged to assist the authority in monitoring private residents used as a drugs taking place by young drug abusers. Thai Delegation also encouraged China to join the campaign of wearing white shirt on the 26th of June or the international anti-drugs day in order to raise public awareness and the will to combat drugs.

Chinese Delegation acknowledged the prevention media and the preventive campaign of Thailand. Chinese Delegation also informed that China’s prevention media would be presented to the Thai Delegation at the next study visit in China.

4.2.5 Herb-based Medicine and Acupuncture Applied for Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment
Thai Delegation reported the cooperation on herb-based medicine between Ministry of Health of Thailand and China. ONCB would invite experts from China to lecture on the use of herbal medicine for addiction treatment. Further cooperation could follow. Thai Delegation further informed a forthcoming arrangement of an international symposium on drugs and drug abuse in Thailand and the subjects of interest might include herbs for detoxification and herbs for restoration of physical, mental and nervous condition. Thai Delegation also made an invitation for Chinese experts to attend the meeting. An official invitation would be sent through ONNCC.

Chinese Delegation showed willingness to coordinate with the Ministry of Health of China for the experts on Thai request.

4.2.6 Project of Exchange Visits between Youths from Thailand and China
Thai Delegation proposed two project ideas for youth exchange, i.e. Photo Contest and Talented Youth Exchange. For the Photo Contest, it could be co-sponsored by the Kodak of Thailand and the Kodak of China. Thai Delegation also suggested that each country should contact the corporate in its own country to subsidize the activities. For the Talented Youth Exchange, Thai Delegation would contact CP, a Thai big business with a huge investment in China to sponsor the activity.

Chinese Delegation acknowledged those two project ideas of the Thai Delegation, which would be proposed to the Chinese Delegation in full details later on.

5. Discussion and Consideration on Future Strategies of Drug Control Cooperation between Thailand-China

5.1 Narcotics Law Enforcement
The meeting agreed to take further immediate action according to the decision made in the working group discussion.

5.2 Drug Demand Reduction
Both countries agreed to discuss further on drug demand reduction, including alternative development, drug prevention media and project of exchanging visit between youths from Thailand and China during the 2004 study visits arranged in each country.

5.3 Narcotics Crop Control
Both countries agreed to discuss further on information sharing and training assistance on remote sensing technique to Myanmar and Lao PDR.

6. Discussion on Draft Meeting Report and Other Relevant Issues
The Draft Meeting Report was discussed and deliberated by all the delegates, and some modifications were made at the resumed plenary meeting.

7. Consideration and Adoption of the Report of The 3rd Meeting
The meeting adopted the report of the 3rd Thailand –China Bilateral Meeting on Drug Control Cooperation.

8. Time and Venue of the Next Meeting
Head of Chinese Delegation proposed to host the 4th meeting in China, in May 2005. The meeting venue will be discussed later on.

9. Closing Ceremony
Mr. Wang Qianrong, Head of Chinese Delegation, expressed thanks for the hospitality extended by the Thai counterpart during attending the meeting.
Mrs. Rasamee Vistaveth, Chairperson of the meeting announced an official closing of the meeting.