Speed Kills: Thailand’s War on Drugs

Speed Kills is a 2003 SBS Australia investigation into Thailand's violent war on drugs under Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Launched in February 2003 amid growing concern over methamphetamine and yaba use, the campaign placed intense pressure on police and local officials to identify suspected drug users and dealers, with blacklists and performance targets becoming central features of the crackdown.

As the death toll rapidly increased, the government maintained that many killings were carried out by drug traffickers attempting to silence informants. However, critics argued that official pressure on police and local officials contributed to extrajudicial killings, with reports of innocent people being caught up in the crackdown.

Through interviews with officials, journalists, community members, and experts, Speed Kills examines the fear created by the campaign, the human consequences of enforcement-driven drug policy, and whether Thailand's attempt to suppress the drug trade was reducing harm or simply creating more violence.

Aftermath of Thailand's 2003 War on Drugs

Later investigations raised serious questions about the scale and legitimacy of the crackdown. A government-appointed inquiry found that 2,819 people were killed during the initial campaign and that more than half had no confirmed connection to drugs. Human rights organizations also documented blacklisting, arbitrary arrests, coercive treatment, and widespread fear among people who used drugs. Despite repeated calls for accountability, the killings produced few meaningful prosecutions, leaving the campaign as one of the most controversial chapters in Thailand's modern drug policy.

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"Yaba is a stronger and more addictive variant of amphetamine or speed, and it’s been flooding into Thailand at an alarming rate in recent years. There are now 3 million users – that means 5% of the total population."¹

"In an effort to counter this national disaster, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced an all-out war on drugs that began on the 1st of February. At the time, no one imagined he meant it literally – a war with plenty of body bags and even collateral damage."

"Today when you’re out there, you must get the names of these drug addicts in the community. After you get those names, your people are to pressure them."

"These women know very well that if they don’t take his advice and change their ways, they could well be the subject of tomorrow’s headline. The newspapers are full of stories about people just like them. Among the statistics, collateral damage so far includes a pregnant woman, a 75 year old woman and a one-year-old child. The Prime Minister admits there has been collateral damage, but he’s always claimed that the majority of the murders are committed by drug dealers trying to silence potential informers."

"It’s now openly suggested that government pressure on the police to make arrests and reach their blacklist targets is the reason that so many people are being killed."

"The government wanted all the provinces in the country to meet certain criteria to show that they have been successful in combating drugs, so they’re measuring the failure or success of the campaign on statistics. The higher the numbers of people [that] get killed for being drug addicts … the better the rating you get. This means more killings, more drug arrests, and that means a lot of innocent people will be victims of the campaign."²