In the Golden Triangle

Chapter 11: Chocolate and Kpop

"...this new wave of terror has just begun. We already have several dozen deaths—none of them more than low level drug dealers. For what?" Khing Changthotong said, his words coming so fast that Devon could barely process what he said. Did the man not need to breathe?

Devon quickly scribbled down what he said. "You're telling me that the Thai government is still toting these deaths as a win?"

Fabric rustled on the other end as the Human Rights Lawyer adjusted his phone. He sounded harried and she could hear traffic noises on the other end of the line. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

She cradled the phone with her shoulder and kicked Lt. Colonel Khamsi's desk with her boot. He was absent for this phone call, and she felt a little freer in speaking to Mr. Changthotong.

"It's only going to get worse." He panted. "In November alone they confiscated close to 4 million baht worth of synthetic drugs. The production in Myanmar is the problem." He reiterated for the fourth time. Devon was well aware of the Eastern Shan State.

"Right." She quickly discovered that Mr. Changthotong was more than willing to speak without her asking questions. He was a veritable fountain of information—she just had to keep the information on topic.

"Estimates are that officials are only confiscating ten percent of the total drug production."

Devon swallowed. The numbers were staggering. How does that compare to the U.S or other countries? She wrote in the margins of her notebook.

Getting this phone call had been difficult. Not only because of her remote location but because Mr. Changthotong seemed to be quite popular. His law firm was just getting started. Suing a countries government seemed to take a lot of his time.

"As I said," there was a swallowing noise and Devon could only assume he was now eating. "it's only getting worse. The permanent cease fire between Myanmar's military and the armed rebel groups only make it more possible for the drugs to be manufactured. Chemicals come across Myanmar's Chinese border with ease, and then it's all created in the East. That's undisturbed production of crystal meth on an industrial scale."

The cartels were now producing the purest crystal meth that the government has ever seen.

"The recently approved CMEC will only make things worse."

China-Myanmar Economic Corridor—a project to bring roads and modern high-speed railways to the Eastern region of Myanmar. If it's built, Eastern Myanmar will be better connected to China than it will be to any other part of Myanmar.

The drug cartels and the organized crime syndicates behind them will have unfettered access to their largest production centers. It could be a blow that would end the war, and not in the way they were hoping.

"Seven monks recently tested positive for Methamphetamine use in Phuket. Do you think the clergy is in league with the cartels?" Devon asked. She didn't really think the incident in Phuket was more than a random event. But she wanted to poke the beehive and see what she got.

For the first time in their conversation there was silence on the other line. "That...was bad." He said softly. "But it should go to prove that the drug problem has reached every facet of society."

"Ms. Pritchard, the simple fact is there is better drug deterrents than murder. The government likes to paint a simple picture—if you're not with the war on drugs, you're siding with the drug cartels. That is black and white thinking that has no place in modern society. Thailand is an enlightened country, and we need to start acting like it."