Thai Nursery Massacre Justifies S’pore’s Tough Stance Towards Drug Consumption & Trafficking: Shanmugam

Shanmugam Reiterates Singapore’s Stance On Drug Trafficking After Thai Nursery Massacre

On 6 Oct, a massacre at a daycare centre in Nong Bua Lamphu, Thailand, claimed at least 36 lives, most of whom were young children. The attacker, a former Thai policeman, was reportedly dismissed from his job for drug use.

The 34-year-old man had stabbed and shot more than 30 children and adults, before returning home and killing his wife and stepson then taking his own life.

On Tuesday (11 Oct) Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam discussed the case on Facebook, reaffirming Singapore’s tough stance on drug consumption and trafficking.

Silence from activists deafening, says Shanmugam

In his post, Mr Shanmugam noted that former policeman Panya Kamrab was facing drug consumption charges at the time of the incident.

“The silence, or narco liberals and apologists for drug traffickers, is deafening,” he wrote.

Referring to such individuals, Mr Shanmugam supposed that they would hope people will overlook the link between drugs and violence in the tragedy. With that in mind, he thus highlighted the absence of candlelight vigils for the children who perished.

The point is likely a reference to a candlelight vigil at Hong Lim Park in April for two drug traffickers who were facing execution.

Following the massacre, Reuters reported that the Thai Prime Minister ordered a crackdown on drugs, three months after the country decriminalised cannabis.

Since drugs are now widely available there, Mr Shanmugam expressed his intrigue about how such measures will work.

Thai nursery massacre justifies Singapore’s tough stance on drugs

Back when Thailand decriminalised cannabis, Mr Shanmugam claimed he received questions about whether Singapore would follow suit.

He said no then, and now feels that the tragedy justifies Singapore’s stance on drugs. He stated in his post,

I cannot emphasise this enough – there are good reasons why Singapore maintains a tough stance towards drug consumption and trafficking.

Last month, Mr Shanmugam reiterated in interviews that Singapore will stick by the death penalty for drug trafficking.

He said to Bloomberg then,

There are two questions. One, philosophical question, whether under any circumstances, even if thousands of lives can be saved, whether the state should execute anyone. That’s a philosophical question, we can debate it. Second, whether it actually has that deterrent effect, we are convinced of it. We believe that it saves a lot of lives and it stops a lot of crimes.

Yesterday’s (11 Oct) post was also not the first time Mr Shanmugam has spoken out against death penalty activists.

In the same interview, he stated that Government policy will not change because of activists, whom he says are a minority.

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Featured image adapted from TSC International News Channel on Facebook and Facebook.