Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia)

The Golden Triangle (, ; , ; Vietnamese: Tam giác Vàng; ) is one of Asia's two main illicit opium-producing areas. It is an area of around 367,000 square miles (950,000 km²) that overlaps the mountains of four countries of Southeast Asia: Burma, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Along with Afghanistan in the Golden Crescent and Pakistan, it has been one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia and of the world since the 1920s. Most of the world's heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when Afghanistan became the world's largest producer.. . February 4, 2003.

The Golden Triangle also designates the confluence of the Ruak River and the Mekong river, since the term has been appropriated by the Thai tourist industry to describe the nearby junction of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar.

Production

Burma is the world's second largest producer of illicit opium, after Afghanistan and has been a significant cog in the transnational drug trade since World War II. According to the UNODC it is estimated that in 2005 there wеrе 167 square miles (275 km²) of opium cultivation in Burma.. . October 23, 2005. The surrender of drug warlord Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army in January 1996 was hailed by Yangon as a major...
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