In his 4 December 2002 speech on the eve of his birthday, King Bhumibol spoke about the rise in drug use, the high social costs and deaths caused by drugs, and called for a "war on drugs".[57] Privy Councillor General Phichit Kunlawanit called on the Thaksin Shinawatra government to use its majority in parliament to establish a special court to deal with drug dealers, stating that "if we execute 60,000 the land will rise and our descendants will escape bad karma".[58]
On 14 January 2003, Thaksin launched a campaign to rid "every square inch of the country" of drugs.[59] His "war on drugs" campaign consisted of setting provincial arrest and seizure quotas including "blacklists", awarding government officials for achieving targets, and threatening punishment for those who failed to make the quota, targeted dealers, and propegated a ruthless carrying out of the campain. In the first three months, Human Rights Watch reported that 2,275 people were killed, almost double the number normally killed in drug-related violence.[60] Human rights critics claimed a large number were extrajudicially executed.[61][62] The War on Drugs was widely criticized by the international community.[63]
According to the Narcotics Control Board, the campaign was effective in reducing drug consumption, especially in schools.[64] The War on Drugs was one of the most popular policies of the Thaksin government.[citation needed] Bhumibol, in a 2003 birthday speech, praised Thaksin and criticized those who counted only dead drug dealers while ignoring deaths caused by drugs.[65]
"Victory in the War on Drugs is good. They may blame the crackdown for more than 2,500 deaths, but this is a small price to pay. If the prime minister failed to curb [the drug trade], over the years the number of deaths would easily surpass this toll."[66]
Bhumibol also asked the commander of the police to investigate the killings.[67] Police Commander Sant Sarutanond reopened investigations into the deaths, and again claimed that few of the deaths were at the hands of the police.
After the 2006 coup, the military junta appointed a committee led by former Attorney General Kanit Na Nakorn to investigate deaths in the war on drugs.[68] The committee found that over half of those killed in 2003 had no links to the drug trade and blamed the violence on a government "shoot-to-kill" policy based on flawed blacklists. However, no one has been prosecuted, with interim Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont stating that there was insufficient evidence to take legal action.[69]
While he was opposition leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva accused Thaksin of crimes against humanity in the war on drugs. After he became Prime Minister, Abhisit opened an investigation led by former attorney-general Kampee Kaewcharoen, claiming that a successful probe could lead to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.[60][70] Abhisit's investigation failed to find or publicize any evidence linking Thaksin or members of his government to extrajudicial killings.