Nation Thailand
Customs turns to AI, X-rays to stop Thailand becoming drug-transit hub
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 1 outlet. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
◌ Single Source
Thailand’s Customs Department is stepping up outbound passenger and cargo screening, using AI, X-ray machines, K-9 units and risk-management systems, as the government seeks to prevent transnational drug networks from exploiting the country’s airports, ports and logistics infrastructure as a global transit route.
Key facts
- Phantong Loykulnanta, director-general of the Customs Department, said the agency was responding to the government’s policy that Thailand must no longer be allowed to serve as a passageway for cross-border drug-trafficking networks.
- Thailand’s VNL 2026 fate on the line as bottom-ranked team faces relegation and 2027 exclusion
- Key measures include expanding X-ray screening of luggage before it is loaded onto aircraft and deploying K-9 sniffer-dog units to help inspect parcels
- The government earlier approved measures requiring AOT, Customs and police to raise outbound baggage-screening standards through X-ray scans and K-9 units, while also tightening checks on crew baggage and improving data links between
Summary
Phantong Loykulnanta, director-general of the Customs Department, said the agency was responding to the government’s policy that Thailand must no longer be allowed to serve as a passageway for cross-border drug-trafficking networks.
Although Thailand is not a major source of drug production, he said the country’s modern transport and logistics infrastructure — among the most advanced in the region — had created vulnerabilities that trafficking gangs were trying to exploit.