Just say no to drugs
June 25th, 2006
The Golden Triangle encompasses an area of about 135,000 square miles covering the mountains of Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. The term also designates the confluence of the Mekong and Mae Sai rivers and is used by the Thai tourist industry to describe the nearby junction of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.
The origins of the term Golden Triangle are unclear, though it has been used for many years. In the 1950s it became synonymous with illegal drug trafficking. The area remains one of the most important opium-producing areas of the world, along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent (together with Iran and Pakistan).
The nation of Thailand has taken a tough line against drug trafficking. I am told on good authority that it has executed thousands of suspected drug dealers — without trial — over the last several years. We passed an execution stand while traveling along the Mekong. As a consequence of this aggressive (and popular) campaign, the government has virtually eradicated commercial opium production in northern Thailand.
Opium is still grown in small quantities by the “hill village” people. They purportedly use it for medicinal purposes. (Other people use it in the making of heroin, morphine and codeine.) Here is a photograph of a poppy flower growing in the Hmong village of Doi Pui, near the city of Chiang Mae, Thailand.
There are many varieties of the poppy plant, but only one species produces opium. The opium is found in the latex of poppy bulbs. (Once a poppy has finished blossoming, it closes into a bulb.) Workers cut into the bulbs to release the opium, which is collected and processed. You can see how the bulbs have been cut in the following two photographs.
The King of Thailand’s mother, the late Princess Srinagarindra, led an anti-drug campaign beginning in the late 1980s. (She also led an interesting life. Srinagarindra moved to Switzerland as a young woman after political unrest. She moved back to Thailand in the 1980s, late in life, to lead this anti-drug effort.) The Princess Mother built her home, with her own money at age 88, on Doi Tung, a remote hill near the border with Myanmar — the heart of the opium growing region. Srinagarindra is fondly remembered as the “Royal Grandmother” or “Royal Mother from the sky.”
VIEW FROM PRINCESS MOTHER’S HOUSE, FACING BURMA
We toured her home, which features beautiful teak wood floors and a hand carved ceiling representing the Milky Way galaxy, the planets aligned as they were on the day of Srinagarindra’s birth. We could not take pictures.
Srinagarindra started the Doi Tung Development Project to rehabilitate local forests, research alternative crops, educate the public about drugs, and to provide the hill village people with jobs ending their dependence on opium growing. The project now employs 1200 people, about 20 percent of the local workforce. Project officials say they’ve eliminated 58 square miles of opium acreage while doubling the amount of forest cover. Per capital income in the area is up ten fold.
Srinagarinda built a botanical garden adjacent to her Swiss-style chalet. The garden is a place where local people can work and scientists can conduct research. It’s the nicest botanical garden I can remember seeing. Take a look for yourself.
TOURING THE BOTANICAL GARDEN UNDER A BIG UMBRELLA
Shortly before she died, Princess Srinagarindra announced an initiative to educate the public about illegal drugs. That initiative became the Hall of Opium in Golden Triangle Park, 5.3 miles north of Chiang Saen in Chiangrai Province. The Hall focuses on the history of the drug trade, the medical affects of various drugs, the social impact of drug use, and government responses to the drug trade.
The Hall of Opium is one of the finer museums I’ve visited and the best exhibit I’ve seen about drugs. I enjoyed the entire museum, especially the entry hall, which is designed to evoke the contradictory moods associated with opium addiction. The historical exhibits are also well worthwhile. I learned that I didn’t really know much about the Opium Wars — and what I thought I knew was wrong. The final exhibit, the gallery of excuses/gallery of victims, includes a video montage of young Asian drug addicts. Louis Armstrong sings “It’s a wonderful world” in the background. Perfect.
All of the exhibits are in Thai and English. You can learn more about them by visiting the museum’s website at www.maefahluang.org.
It’s worth nothing that while Thailand has made significant strides in eradicating illegal drugs, its poorer neighbors have been less successful. The Golden Triangle is still a significant source of opium production and people living in the area are still concerned about the drug trade. One Thai resident, a local farmer, told me that the government recently suspended its campaign against drug trafficking while it tries to resolve an ongoing political crisis. (The prime minister has called for “snap” elections later this month.) She said the drug dealers reappeared almost immediately.
2002 Opium Cultivation *
Myanmar 200,000 acres
Afghanistan 183,000
Laos 35,000
Columbia 10,400
Mexico 6,700
Thailand 1,850
*Source: Hall of Opium
Background
Britain and China fought the Opium Wars after China refused to legalize opium. British traders earned huge sums of money selling opium from India to the people of China and they wanted to expand their business. They viewed opium as no worse than alcohol or tobacco. The Chinese resisted, concerned about an increase in the number of Chinese drug addicts. Britain won both wars and won significant concessions, economic and political, from the Chinese.
Entry Filed under: Freeman Fellowship
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