Golden Triangle
The border region where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet near the Mekong River. It is historically associated with opium cultivation and trafficking.
Opium trade: The cultivation, processing, and exchange of opium and its derivatives. Opium production made the region internationally known during the twentieth century.
Opium poppy: A flowering plant whose seed pods yield opium latex. Its cultivation supplied the raw material for the region’s historic opium economy.
Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone: A Lao economic zone on the Mekong, established in Bokeo Province near the borders with Myanmar and Thailand. This modern development project occupies part of the region and shares its name.
Golden Triangle (Asia-Pacific drug trade): A broader label for illicit drug production and trafficking networks across parts of mainland Southeast Asia. This usage describes a criminal economy, not just the three-country border region.
Khun Sa: A Shan military leader and drug trafficker active in Myanmar’s borderlands. His forces and trafficking network shaped the Golden Triangle’s later reputation.
Heroin: An opioid drug synthesized from morphine, commonly derived from opium poppies. Heroin processing and trafficking became central to the region’s illicit drug economy.
Hall of Opium: A museum in Chiang Saen, Thailand, documenting opium and its history. The museum interprets the region’s past and the effects of the opium trade.
Golden Crescent: A major opium-producing region encompassing Afghanistan and neighboring parts of southwest Asia. It is a separate drug-producing region often compared with the Golden Triangle.
Shan State: A state in eastern Myanmar, bordering China, Laos, and Thailand. Much of the Myanmar side of the region lies within Shan State.
Drug trafficking: The illegal production, transport, and sale of controlled drugs. Cross-border routes connected local production to regional and international markets.