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Thai border communities bear brunt of drug surge after Myanmar coup
Instability at the Myanmar-Thai border after the Myanmar coup of February 2021 has meant a surge in narcotics production and trafficking in the area, and in quantities of illicit drugs finding their way to the rest of South-east Asia. Here’s a look at the problem and how it is being tackled.
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Nong Phai village near the Myanmar border is among the communities that stand on the frontline of the tide of drugs.
ST PHOTO: TAN HUI YEE
FANG DISTRICT, CHIANG MAI – Of the about 600 residents of Huay Nok Kok village, near northern Thailand’s border with Myanmar, an estimated 10 per cent are addicted to drugs, village elder Nang Nasee Kirirasami tells The Straits Times.
Most of them, she says, are low-wage labourers in their 30s who rely on methamphetamine to overcome fatigue, and eventually develop a dependence on the drug.
