TWO TALES OF ADDICTION SHOW DARK SIDE OF THAILAND’S DRUG CRISIS
By Khaosod English -November 8, 2024 7:26 pm
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BURIRAM/UDON THANI — In northeastern Thailand’s Buriram Province, a 64-year-old mother took an extraordinary step that shocked the nation: she built a prison cell in her home to confine her drug-addicted son. Nearly 350 kilometers away, a little boy in Udon Thani Province was found wandering alone on a highway, attempting to reach his grandmother’s house to escape life with his drug-dependent mother.
These two stories, emerging in the same week, have become powerful symbols of Thailand’s deepening drug crisis – a challenge that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government has now placed at the top of its national agenda.
“For twenty years, I’ve lived in constant fear,” said the Buriram mother, who hired contractors to build a barred cell outside her kitchen after her 42-year-old son’s latest release from rehabilitation.
Her desperate measure – though illegal and a violation of human rights, officials would later explain – came after decades of watching her son cycle through addiction, rehabilitation, and relapse, his behavior growing increasingly aggressive and unpredictable.
The 64-year-old woman (left) shows officials the barred cell she had constructed inside her house in Nang Rong district, Buriram province, on Nov 6, 2024.
This case captured the attention of Justice Minister Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong, who convened the first meeting of the National Drug Prevention, Control and Problem Solving Committee 2024 on November 7. “It reflect a problem that deserves joint investigation,” Sodsong said, emphasizing that solutions must go beyond merely cracking down on traffickers.
The authorities have already begun intervening. The son from Buriram will be evaluated for potential mental health treatment at Thanyarak Hospital in Khon Kaen. If mental health treatment is required, it could take more than a year.
Justice Minister Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong
Meanwhile, in Udon Thani province, a different face of addiction emerged when Good Samaritans discovered a three-and-a-half-year-old boy walking alone on a bypass road between Udon Thani and Nong Bua Lam Phu, with the aim of walking to his grandmother’s house 15 kilometers away. They alerted the police.
While the police returned the boy safely to his mother and took him to his grandmother, the grandmother and neighbors expressed their deep concern for his welfare. The boy’s mother was reportedly addicted to drugs and often neglected her son, forcing him to go hungry and beg for food from neighbors and temples.
The neighbors and family members are concerned about the child’s welfare and hope that the authorities will intervene and arrange treatment for the mother.
A teenage Good Samaritan and his girlfriend on a motorcycle spot a three-and-a-half-year-old boy walking alone on a bypass road between Udon Thani and Nong Bua Lam Phu, prompting him to alert police for help, on Nov 5, 2024.The police return the boy safely to his mother but the question is whether the boy will continue to run away in the future.
When journalists questioned the mother about drug use, she admitted to taking drugs but claimed she was not addicted and said she only took them “every three or four days” when she had the money. She emphasized that she loved her son and wanted to raise him to join the military like her.
This case presents the authorities who want to solve it with an equally difficult task. The question is whether the boy will continue to run away in the future and whether he will grow up safely in his current environment.
These parallel crises highlight the complex reality facing Thailand’s anti-drug efforts: addiction doesn’t just destroy individuals – it ravages families across generations, forcing parents, children, and communities to make impossible choices in their search for safety and recovery.
As Thailand grapples with this crisis, these two families’ struggles serve as a stark reminder that behind every statistic in the nation’s drug epidemic lies a deeply human story of desperation, love, and the long shadow of addiction.
By Khaosod English -November 8, 2024 7:26 pm
... อ่านข่าวต้นฉบับได้ที่ : https://www.khaosodenglish.com/feat...tion-show-dark-side-of-thailands-drug-crisis/
www.khaosodenglish.com
BURIRAM/UDON THANI — In northeastern Thailand’s Buriram Province, a 64-year-old mother took an extraordinary step that shocked the nation: she built a prison cell in her home to confine her drug-addicted son. Nearly 350 kilometers away, a little boy in Udon Thani Province was found wandering alone on a highway, attempting to reach his grandmother’s house to escape life with his drug-dependent mother.
These two stories, emerging in the same week, have become powerful symbols of Thailand’s deepening drug crisis – a challenge that Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s government has now placed at the top of its national agenda.
“For twenty years, I’ve lived in constant fear,” said the Buriram mother, who hired contractors to build a barred cell outside her kitchen after her 42-year-old son’s latest release from rehabilitation.
Her desperate measure – though illegal and a violation of human rights, officials would later explain – came after decades of watching her son cycle through addiction, rehabilitation, and relapse, his behavior growing increasingly aggressive and unpredictable.
This case captured the attention of Justice Minister Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong, who convened the first meeting of the National Drug Prevention, Control and Problem Solving Committee 2024 on November 7. “It reflect a problem that deserves joint investigation,” Sodsong said, emphasizing that solutions must go beyond merely cracking down on traffickers.
The authorities have already begun intervening. The son from Buriram will be evaluated for potential mental health treatment at Thanyarak Hospital in Khon Kaen. If mental health treatment is required, it could take more than a year.
Justice Minister Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong
Meanwhile, in Udon Thani province, a different face of addiction emerged when Good Samaritans discovered a three-and-a-half-year-old boy walking alone on a bypass road between Udon Thani and Nong Bua Lam Phu, with the aim of walking to his grandmother’s house 15 kilometers away. They alerted the police.
While the police returned the boy safely to his mother and took him to his grandmother, the grandmother and neighbors expressed their deep concern for his welfare. The boy’s mother was reportedly addicted to drugs and often neglected her son, forcing him to go hungry and beg for food from neighbors and temples.
The neighbors and family members are concerned about the child’s welfare and hope that the authorities will intervene and arrange treatment for the mother.
A teenage Good Samaritan and his girlfriend on a motorcycle spot a three-and-a-half-year-old boy walking alone on a bypass road between Udon Thani and Nong Bua Lam Phu, prompting him to alert police for help, on Nov 5, 2024.The police return the boy safely to his mother but the question is whether the boy will continue to run away in the future.
When journalists questioned the mother about drug use, she admitted to taking drugs but claimed she was not addicted and said she only took them “every three or four days” when she had the money. She emphasized that she loved her son and wanted to raise him to join the military like her.
This case presents the authorities who want to solve it with an equally difficult task. The question is whether the boy will continue to run away in the future and whether he will grow up safely in his current environment.
These parallel crises highlight the complex reality facing Thailand’s anti-drug efforts: addiction doesn’t just destroy individuals – it ravages families across generations, forcing parents, children, and communities to make impossible choices in their search for safety and recovery.
As Thailand grapples with this crisis, these two families’ struggles serve as a stark reminder that behind every statistic in the nation’s drug epidemic lies a deeply human story of desperation, love, and the long shadow of addiction.
