Govt fast tracking cyanide 'regulation', official discourages online sales
The Department of Industrial Works is fast tracking a regulation that will require people who buy cyanide to explain to the stores they buy it from what they want to use it for, Julapong Thaweesri, the department’s director general, said on Friday.
Julapong also urged people to refrain from selling cyanide online.
The new regulation is being drafted after the toxin was allegedly used to murder at least 15 people by a suspected serial killer.
Sararat “Am” Rangsiwuthaporn, 36, has been charged with murdering 15 people by poisoning them with cyanide, and the number could rise. The suspect, who is reportedly four-months pregnant, is being held in pre-trial detention.
The new regulation will likely be made public within a week, Julapong said, adding that his department is consulting with other agencies about the regulation.
He did not provide many details about the regulation, saying only that it will require customers to explain to shop staff what they plan to do with the cyanide before they are allowed to purchase it.
Thailand does have some legislation regulating the sale of cyanide. Any store that has more than 100 kilogrammes of cyanide in its possession must notify authorities that it is selling the poisonous substance.
Thailand does not produce cyanide, but 14 companies import it, Julapong said.
His department controls the import and distribution of two forms of cyanide: sodium cyanide and potassium cyanide. Both forms are used in laboratories and by mining companies, he said.
