Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)

For other uses, see Golden Triangle.
Not to be confused with Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

Geography of Golden Triangle
Confluence of Ruak River and Mekong Rivers, view from Wat Phra That Doi Pu Khao [th] in Ban Sop Ruak
ContinentSoutheast Asia
RegionMyanmar, Thailand, Laos
Coordinates20°21′20″N 100°04′53″E / 20.35556°N 100.08139°E / 20.35556; 100.08139

The Golden Triangle is a large, mountainous region of approximately 200,000 km2 (77,000 sq mi)[1] in northeastern Myanmar, northwestern Thailand and northern Laos, centered on the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong rivers.[2][3] The name "Golden Triangle" was coined by Marshall Green, a U.S. State Department official, in 1971 in a press conference on the opium trade.[4][5][1] Today, the Thai side of the river confluence, Sop Ruak, has become a tourist attraction, with the House of Opium Museum, a Hall of Opium, and a Golden Triangle Park, and no opium cultivation.[6]

The Golden Triangle has been one of the largest opium-producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when opium production in Afghanistan increased.[7] Myanmar was the world's second-largest source of opium after Afghanistan up to 2022, producing some 25% of the world's opium, forming part of the Golden Triangle. While opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar had declined year-on-year since 2015, cultivation area increased by 33% totalling 40,100 ha (99,000 acres) alongside an 88% increase in yield potential to 790 t (780 long tons; 870 short tons) in 2022 according to latest data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Myanmar Opium Survey 2022.[8] The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has also warned that opium production in Myanmar may rise again if the economic crunch brought on by COVID-19 and the country's 2021 Myanmar coup d'état persists, with significant public health and security consequences for much of Asia.[9]

In 2023, Myanmar became the world’s largest producer of opium after an estimated 1,080 t (1,060 long tons; 1,190 short tons) of the drug was produced, according to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report,[10] while a crackdown by the Taliban reduced opium production by approximately 95% to 330 t (320 long tons; 360 short tons) in Afghanistan for the same year.[11]

  1. ^ a b Lintner, Bertil (28 November 2022). "Guide to Investigating Organized Crime in the Golden Triangle". Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ^ Sen, S. (1991). "Heroin Trafficking in the Golden Triangle". Police Journal. 64 (3): 241. doi:10.1177/0032258X9106400310. S2CID 149244027. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  3. ^ "Golden Triangle". Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  4. ^ Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud (2010). Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Harvard University Press. pp. xii, 23. ISBN 978-0-674-05134-8.
  5. ^ Staff Report on Drug Abuse in the Military. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1971. pp. iii.
  6. ^ Fuller, Thomas (11 September 2007). "The drug-running is gone, but the tourists still flock". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Afghanistan again tops list of illegal drug producers". Washington Times. 2013. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  8. ^ Myanmar Opium Survey 2021: Cultivation, Production and Implications (Report). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2022.
  9. ^ "Myanmar's Economic Meltdown Likely to Push Opium Output Up, Says UN". Voa News. 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
  10. ^ Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2023 (PDF) (Report). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2023.
  11. ^ "Myanmar becomes world's biggest producer of opium, overtaking Afghanistan". The Guardian. 2023.