Drug War not helpful in Terrorism Fight

Thailand faces a hard fix in the South because trust of the government has nose-dived since the bloody anti-drug campaign that summarily denied 2,500 living, breathing Thai citizens of the most important human right: the right to life itself.

There is considerable anecdotal evidence that the ill-conceived drug war in 2003 was used to terrify and settle scores, and nowhere more dangerously so than in southern Thailand, which erupted into open rebellion shortly afterwards.

While the links between the drug war and the subsequent anti-state violence in the South are not clear, further examination might shed light on how law and order led to such anarchy and chaos.