27 July 2001 :

Amnesty activists should consider the dangers of drugs to society before begging for mercy for drug convicts on death row, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said.On their argument that the death penalty was barbaric and should be left to history, he said capital punishment remained in use even in developed countries like the United States.
"We must ask them where they are from and whether the death penalty exists in their countries. We should not get too panicky. Just do our jobs the best we can. Criticisms are normal and I am listening to them," he said.
The premier stressed that serious crimes deserved harsh punishment. Amnesty International Thailand has urged the government to stop what it called the "assembly line" of death sentences and executions, and to focus on the root causes of drug problems instead. Amnesty conceded that illicit drugs have become one of the biggest threats to Thailand, but it still argued that the death penalty was not the best solution to the problem.