Thailand and Cambodia will launch a joint campaign to combat drug smuggling across their common border, according to a senior Thai anti-narcotics official.

The move is in response to a shift by traffickers away from more traditional smuggling routes across Thailand's borders with Myanmar and Laos.

Office of Narcotics Control Board secretary general Pol Lt Gen Krissana Polanant was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Friday that his agency will host the first meeting of authorities from both countries on Dec. 1 and 2 in Pattaya, east of Bangkok, to discuss policy issues and planning for the joint anti-drug operation.

The cooperation between Cambodian and Thai officials will be the first of its kind under a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding signed on the drugs issue several years ago.

Source: Xinhua