Everyone today seems to have some Idea of the drug trade south of the US border or perhaps Afghanistan. However, If you were asked about where the drug trade in Southeast Asia is going? If you replied with a sense of complete confusion, you would be totally forgiven. A changing political climate in two of the major countries in the region, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Thailand both seem to strangely and contradictorily give both a boon and bust to the trade of Narcotics in the region. In the case of Myanmar the situation seems to at least nominally improving on the face of things. A new move towards democracy hopefully means more involvement by the international community in curbing Myanmar’s narcotics problem. Even on a smaller level, the people seem to be taking the action of fighting illegal drugs into their own hands. However the many reforms the government in Myanmar have been taking to create a more liberal-democratic state seem to be aiding the drug trade as the numbers of methamphetamines being shipped out of Myanmar to neighboring Thailand have increased, seemingly with the help of military units trying to achieve ceasefires with multiple ethnic resistance groups. The expansion of production among these various groups looks to exacerbate the problems, much to the disdain of Myanmar’s neighbors. Most of these drugs then find their way to Thailand where political changes don’t really sit right. The current leader of the military Junta that controls Thailand (which took control in a coup in 2014), General Prayuth Chan-ocha, shows strong indications of illegal activities and corruption. In the General’s defense, corruption in Thai security forces stemming from the drug trade, looks to be a common occurrence with little sign of slowing, especially as the Junta struggles to revert back to democracy. The end results seems to keep the infamous “Golden Triangle” region of drug production and trafficking alive and well for years to come.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/myanmar-clamps-down-on/2538980.html
TRANS-NATIONAL CRIME AND TERRORISM 