A drug craze sweeps Thailand

Thai officials say last year was the worst year on record for the use of methamphetamine, a form of speed, called ya ba, or "crazy medicine" here. The Thai military is so alarmed that it has labeled the surge in users a threat to national security.

Almost all of the methamphetamine is produced in labs in Burma (Myanmar), where the drug lords who made the Golden Triangle synonymous with heroin have diversified into a product that's cheaper to produce, smuggle, and market than heroin, Thai police officials say.

Five years ago, just a trickle of methamphetamines were reaching Thailand. Today it's a torrent. About 70,000 Thais were convicted for methamphetamine-related offenses last year, up from 16,000 in 1997. Roughly 90 percent of all drug cases last year involved methamphetamines, and narcotics-control officials estimate that 5 percent of the population uses the drug.

Still, drug experts such as Kanda Choaymeung find hope in the current situation. The psychologist and director of the Rajadamri drug treatment center here says Thailand is finally getting its arms around the problem. "This drug snuck up on us,'' she says. "We were so focused on treating heroin addiction, we weren't prepared when it hit us."

In the past few years, a government-backed television and radio blitz with movie and sports stars has slowly changed the drug's image from harmless to sinister. Thailand's police force has become more adept at catching users. And treatment centers have adapted to the special needs of their patients.

"People didn't think it was dangerous,'' says Chuanpit Choomwattana, a drug-policy expert at Thailand's Narcotics Control board. "With heroin, you can see the addiction, the damage to people almost right away. Ya ba is more subtle at the start.''

Mrs. Kanda, who has participated in the overhaul of Thai treatment centers, says statistics and anecdotal evidence show that the drug's spread seems to be slowing for the first time. "Use will soon plateau," she says. "There is a natural evolution of a drug epidemic, whether it's cocaine or heroin, and I think we're near the top."

Still, millions of poor, laboring Thais use ya ba. It can cost as little as $1 per pill, and the pills, which are usually eaten or ground up and smoked, give users a feeling of hyper alertness.

In the northern provinces, where proximity to Burma makes ya ba plentiful and cheap, alarming stories have surfaced of farmers paying seasonal laborers with ya ba. Students take it as a cheap replacement for the designer drug ecstasy at dance clubs.

Thai authorities estimate that 800 million pills – 13 pills for every Thai citizen – are produced in Burma annually. The Thai police say production has grown increasingly sophisticated there, with some labs turning out 50 million pills a year.

"The numbers reflect an epidemic; this is our biggest drug-control problem,'' says Ms. Choomwattana.

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