Despite of the drug issue that always become the main topic at the government monthly meeting, the top provincial officers still proceed to balk the plan of installing a drug-detecting “X-ray machine” at Tah Chat Chai checkpoint after learning the machine would cost over 250 million baht.

Phuket Provincial Police on August 11 dispatched a team of officers to the northeastern province of Nong Khai to observe a drug detection unit in action at a border checkpoint there. Effective or not, costs of installation and upkeep are prohibitive, the committee was told. It would cost about 250 million baht for one unit, with monthly maintenance fees of about one million baht.

“The price is just too high. It is not worth the investment, so the province will have to come up with alternative strategies,” the governor said.

Despite its relatively small size, Phuket ranked third in reported drug cases in the six provinces covered by Police Region 8. Surat Thani and Nakhon Sri Thammarat took the top two spots, respectively. According to the Police Region 8 Narcotics Control Center, Phuket had 2,230 drug cases with 2,431 arrests from October last year through June this year.

News by Phuket Gazette