Phl, Thai drug wars compared

BANGKOK – Days before President Duterte’s official visit here, an opinion piece called the Philippines and Thailand “twins separated at birth,” citing their similarities and common aspirations.

The description seems applicable to the fight against illegal drugs, a problem that critics claimed has resulted in summary executions and human rights violations in both countries.

The key difference, however, between the two Southeast Asian countries lies in the manner of the anti-drug campaign.

While the Philippines is trying to curb the drug menace through aggressive, often bloody police actions, Thailand has decided to reexamine its approach, dropping the brutal crackdown that left close to 3,000 people dead.

Thailand’s war on drugs was started by then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who ordered his security forces to arrest and kill drug lords and officials involved in the narcotics trade.

The campaign was very popular in Thailand, partly due to the rise in the use of methamphetamine among its young population.

While Thaksin claimed victory against the drug problem, human rights advocates denounced what they claimed were arbitrary killings of innocent people.

In a 2008 report, Human Rights Watch, the same watchdog criticizing Duterte’s antidrug campaign, claimed that 2,800 people died in the first three months of Thaksin’s campaign.

“In 2007, an official investigation found that more than half of those killed had no connection whatsoever to drugs. Apart from the thousands who lost their lives, thousands more were forced into coercive treatment for drug addiction,” Human Rights Watch said.

Thaksin’s much criticized campaign against illegal drugs was tagged as one of the factors that led to a military coup that ousted him in 2006.

Commentators believe Duterte can learn lessons from Thailand’s failed war on drugs.

For now, there are no signs that the Philippine President would go slow on his bloody war, as he vowed to continue his campaign “until the last drug lord is out of the streets.”

When former Colombian president Cesar Gaviria, who battled Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, said the Philippine President was repeating his mistakes, Duterte called him a “fool” and an “idiot.”

Duterte also claimed he does not mind if he suffers the same fate as that of Thaksin because of his war on drugs.

“If I get ousted, fine. That’s part of my destiny,” said Duterte, who earlier vowed to protect soldiers and policemen involved in his drug war.