The spread of narcotics and drug abuse in border provinces of southern Thailand
การแพร่ระบาดของสารเสพติดในเด็กและเยาวชนในจังหวัดชายแดนภาคใต้ของประเทศไทย

Wanchai Dhammasaccakarn, Asst. Prof., D. of Educational Foundation, F. of Liberal Arts, PSU
. Nibhon Tipsrinimit, Asst. Prof., D. of Thai and Oriental Language, F. of Humanities and Social Sci., Thaksin U., Songkhla
Nirun Chullasup, Assoc. Prof., D. of Psychology and Guidance, F. of Education, Thaksin U., Songkhla
Corresponding e-mail : dwanchai@ratree.psu.ac.th

Grant : Government Budget
Published : Songklanakarin J of Soc Sci & Hum 2000, 6(3) : 289-321
Key words : drug abuse, border provinces, Buddhist and Muslim youths, family relation

This research is intended to investigate the spread of narcotics and drug abuse among the youth in southern border provinces, and the relationship between the youth's backgrounds and their drug experiences; to compare factors related to drug use between youths from formal and non-formal edu-cation systems, between Buddhist and Muslim youths, and between the youths with and without drug experiences; to determine factors leading to drug addiction among such youths; to investigate the ex-tent of drug abuse in the past, at present and in the future, and to find causes of drug abuse, distribution means as well as its prevention and suppression.
Through stratified random sampling, the samples of this research were 965 youths from the formal education system, 523 from the non-formal education system, and 240 government officers involved in drug abuse prevention and suppression, and drug treatments.
It was found that drug experience correlated with the youth's age, sex, education level; fellow household members; parent's occupation; experiences with friends who smoke, drink, or experiment with drugs; number of peers who smoked cigarettes, and occurrence of domestic disputes, significant-ly at the level of .05.
On comparing the youth from formal and non-formal education systems, differences were found with respect to thrill-seeking personality, familial closeness, independence from peers, perceived difficulty in purchasing drugs in the community, and exposure to drug information via personal con-tacts, significantly at the level of .05. No significant differences were found among other variables. There were differences between Buddhist and Muslim youths with respect to attitude toward drugs, independence from peers, perceived difficulty in purchasing drugs in the community, perceived diffi-culty in purchasing drugs at school and in the immediate surroundings, and exposure to drug infor-mation via personal contacts, significantly at the level of .05. No significant differences were found among other variables. On comparing the youth with and without drug experiences, differences were found with respect to thrill-seeking personality, attitude toward drugs, familial closeness, peer pres-sure, perceived difficulty in purchasing drugs in the community, perceived difficulty in purchasing drugs at school and in the immediate surroundings, significantly at the level of .05. No significant differences were found among other variables, however.
Stepwise regression analysis revealed that peer pressure to take drugs was the chief factor responsible for the variance of drug abuse among all youth groups, significantly at the level of .01. Other factors included thrill-seeking personality, and attitude toward drugs, although with different ranking of importance in different groups. In addition to the three factors above, perceived difficulty in purchasing drugs in the community was another factor responsible for the variance of drug abuse among Muslim youths, significantly at the level of .05.
Drug prevention personnel expressed their opinions that drugs abuse at present is more severe than in the past and seems to be inclined to increase in the future due to the complexity of the society, the family, personality, and drug effects. Drug abuse has spread by various means such as having the youth as pushers, exploitation through seniority (teacher/student, senior/ junior students) to force the youth to push or try drugs, throwing a drug party, mixing drugs in consumer products as well as using state authority to justify drug production. Drug prevention and suppression may stem from the family in which parents act as good role models, or it can be done via mass media, state mechanism such as legal measures, and anti-drugs groups or organizations. Responsible personnel at all levels should coordinate to help drug addicts and to cope with other drug consequences.
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