Foreign diplomats were invited to witness the country's 35th official illicit drug-burning ceremony, held at Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in industrial estate.

Some 1.12 tonnes of drugs - seized or confiscated from 12,672 cases - were burnt by the Public Health Ministry in an environmentally friendly system called "pyrolytic" incineration. The drugs included 833 kilograms of methamphetamine, 59 kilograms of heroin, 20 kilograms of opium.

Police also brought 1.8 tonnes of marijuana, which was burnt at the same event.

Deputy Health Minister Morakot Kornkasem, who presided over the ceremony, said Thailand continued to crack down on drugs, controlling narcotic ingredients and rehabilitating drug addicts. The health ministry offered treatment services to addicts at some 800 public hospitals to achieve its goal to "heal" 30,000 drug patients annually.

Morakot said that from last October to March 31 this year, 28,137 patients underwent treatment. At Thanyarak Institute alone, 3,840 drug patients were admitted this year, 81 per cent were men living in Bangkok or Central provinces, and a third were unemployed. Of these, 2,071 were methamphetamine addicts.

Drug abuse had become more dangerous, Morakot said, citing statistics that addicts using two kinds of drugs at the same time had risen from 1 per cent in 2005 to 2 per cent this year. This practice destroyed users' nerves and mental capacity faster than if they took one kind of drug or switched between two drugs, he said.

The Thanyarak Institute, which has opened a 24-hour hotline 1165 for drug abuse consultation, reported they received 15 to 25 calls a day; 90 per cent enquiring about rehab for drug-addicted relatives and 10 per cent giving tip-offs about drug dealing, Morakot said.