Opium production fell in the Golden Triangle last year as Thailand and Laos slashed the amount of land being cultivated for the raw ingredient of heroin, the United Nations said. Myanmar, also in the area, remains a risk, Bloomberg reported.
Southeast Asia accounted for 424 metric tons of opium, or about 5 percent of the world's total production, down from 33 percent in 1998 and more than 50 percent in 1990, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime said in a report yesterday. Myanmar produced most of the drug as Thailand and Laos became almost opium-free.
"There is still too much opium in Myanmar, but progress over the past two decades has been impressive," UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa said in the report.
The Golden Triangle, a remote mountainous territory where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet, is the biggest opium producing region after Afghanistan, which accounts for about 92 percent of global output. The UN warned that without international development the Golden Triangle's economy may slip back into opium dependency.
"Rising opium prices may make it more attractive for farmers to revert back to opium cultivation, especially if no alternative sources of income are available," Costa said.
While the prevalence of opium is diminishing in Southeast Asia, its drug problem isn't, the UN said. The region has become a major hub for amphetamines and ecstasy production and urgent measures are required to halt synthetic drug manufacturing.