26 July 2001 :

The Criminal Court needed only three months to hand down death sentences against 19 convicted drug traffickers because the court had been trying the four cases nonstop, Criminal Court Chief Justice Sombat Tiewissaret said.
Sombat said the court has recently developed a policy of trying drug cases continually in order to reach a speedier verdict, thus providing a deterrent measure against the drug trade.
Judge Wichit Lithamchayo, who condemned the 19 traffickers to death, said he was not trying to please the public or the government. Instead, he explained, the Criminal Court itself is declaring war on drug traffickers.
Sombat said 42 traffickers have been sentenced to death in the first six months of this year.Amnesty International urged Thailand to halt death sentences handed down for drug related offences.