Bangkok, Dhu-AlHijjah 12, 1437, Sep 14, 2016, SPA -- A suspected drug dealer was killed and a police officer seriously injured during a raid on a suspected drug-dealing ring in the Thai resort town of Khao Yai on Wednesday, police said according to dpa. A drugs taskforce raided a party being attended by about 30 local dealers in the early hours of Wednesday, resulting in a gun fight in which one suspect was shot dead and an officer sustained a serious injury to the chest. The raid came after months of investigation Rewat Klinkesorn, head of the Narcotics Suppression Bureau, told dpa. He said the party was the first and the biggest public social gathering of nationwide drug dealers in the country. More than 2,000 people were killed in the war on drugs waged by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinnawatra before Thailand officially ended it in 2003. Last month, Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said he was considering dealing with the country's drug problem as a health issue rather than a criminal one, a proposal that has met with a varied response. Other countries in the region are also waging war on drugs, with the Philippines in particular hitting the headlines recently after newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte launched a violent crackdown. Police statistics show 1,011 suspected drug users and dealers were killed in police operations in the Philippines between July 1 and September 4. --SPA 13:38 LOCAL TIME 10:38 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w