The Golden Triangle
The Golden Triangle is one of Asia's two main opium-producing areas. It is an area of around 950,000 square kilometres that overlaps the mountains of three countries of Southeast Asia : Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent, it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia and of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21 st century when Afghanistan became the world's largest producer
The term "Golden Triangle" refers to the border regions between Thailand, Burma and Laos and when gold was used by Chinese traders to pay for opium grown there. Within Southeast Asia the term is synonymous with the opium and heroin trade.
The history of the opium poppy in the Golden Triangle can be traced back to various Chinese migrant groups for whom the poppy was an integral part of their cultural traditions.
After Mao Zedong's Communist Army defeated and ousted Chiang Kai-Sheks National Revolutionary Army, many of these Chinese Kuomintangs came to the Thai-Burmese border region looking for ways to make money. They decided to make their living in the drug trade and dramatically increased opium production. The Golden triangle became renown for opium and heroin production during the Vietnam War.
The governments in the "Golden Triangle" have dealt with the problem of poppy production with differing levels of intensity. In Thailand the cultivation of poppies is illegal and in the Northern provinces they have been very effective in limiting cultivation. Northern Thailand has many new roads and airports which make it easier for the police and military to control and patrol the region effectively.
The ongoing effort to prohibit opium in neighboring countries has caused Myanmar to become the biggest producer of opium in the Golden Triangle.
Since the year 2531 by HRH the Princess Royal Mother minister had initiated the Doi Tung Development Project. (The work area) due to the initiative. Lay on the Range Chiang Rai It aims to solve the drug problem in the area. Including over forest And restoring the lives of people.