Thai troops recently seized nearly 225kg of crystal methamphetamine from drug smugglers trafficking the drug over the border and into the country from Myanmar. This drug bust is just one example of the Thai government’s increased efforts to crack down on the booming drug trade in the notorious “Golden Triangle” region.
The Golden Triangle, where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet, became a major hub for opium cultivation when Chinese opium producers were forced to relocate in the early 20th century. Today, nearly 90% of the Golden Triangle’s opium is estimated to originate from the Shan State in northern Myanmar. The state is also home to a rising number of methamphetamine (meth) super labs. Meth produced in the region mainly comes in two forms: pills, known as “yaba,” and crystal meth, or “ice.”
Myanmar’s drug trade is thriving after a military coup in 2021, which ended a brief 10-year democratic experiment and re-imposed complete military governance. The ruling junta faces continuing armed resistance from rebel and ethnic groups. According to a spokesperson from one of these groups, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, drug production has flourished unchecked in regions where there is a high military presence and military forces have even participated in the drug trade themselves. “The drug trade has increased since the military coup,” Lt. Col. Mai Aik Kyaw told Radio Free Asia. “We sometimes have to go into towns to seize drugs [because the junta isn’t effectively policing the trade],” he said, noting that the T.N.L.A. also has to plug gaps the junta is leaving in the nation’s drug rehabilitation programs.
Apart from the junta’s direct influence, the increased poverty and lack of economic opportunity fueled by the political instability are also pushing farmers to fall back on the drug trade. A study from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (U.N.O.D.C.) estimates that opium cultivation grew by 33% in the year following the coup, reversing previous years’ consistent decline.
This surge in supply from Myanmar is pushing meth prices to an all-time low in Thailand and consequently driving up demand. However, the estimated billions of drugs moving through the Golden Triangle don’t just end up in Thailand. While Thailand is a major market and conduit for this drug trade, traffickers are believed to be relying on alternative routes amid increased anti-drug operations. Many drugs are believed to move through central Myanmar to the Andaman Sea, where they are shipped to markets in the Pacific. These drugs can reach market prices up to 10x as high when they arrive in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.
The U.N.O.D.C. recently established a network of more than 120 border liaison offices throughout Southeast Asia, which facilitate co-operation and information sharing between authorities across borders to combat drug trafficking. However, as long as there is demand and a junta regime keen to overlook the flourishing drug trade in Myanmar, this problem is not going away.
