The name Golden Triangle was bequeathed to the 367,000 square miles spanning the Myanmar, Thai, and Laos borders by a US official when discussing the administration’s concern of the large amount of opium being produced in the area. Thousands of years ago the opium producing poppy was grown for medicinal purposes. As time went on it was used to placate soldiers during times of war and as more humans discovered its joyous pain relieving properties, its use began to be abused.
The infamous Opium Wars brought China to its knees and showed the world what many already knew, drugs not only ruin individuals’ lives, but entire societies. It began with Britain’s need to finance its imperialistic endeavors. With control of the seas, Britain was able to prosper from trade. Slaves were traded from Africa to the Americas whom were then used to grow raw materials such as sugar and cotton which Britain needed. On the other side of the world India was producing Britain’s opium. Britain was able to trade manufactured goods to the Americas, India, and Africa. China on the other hand was only interested in silver at that time. The Qing Dynasty felt superior to the western powers and withheld a stringent isolation policy. Traders were only able to enter certain ports in the south of China and they had to trade via a government appointed middle man. The emperor proclaimed an edict forbidding the trade and use of opium. Already fearing the growing number of addicts within his kingdom, he wanted to cut off the source of their addiction. The opium that the British successfully and illegally traded along the Chinese coast was received with enthusiasm by the locals. As the Chinese craving for the drug and dependency grew, Britain continually pushed for an open market with China. The financial gain of unrestricted opium trading with China would be huge. In the eyes of the East India Company opium was just another good.
As tensions rose the British looked for an excuse to instigate conflict. This excuse was given to them on a plate when the Chinese official Commissioner Lin Zexu confiscated and destroyed thousands of crates of British opium. This began the first Opium war (1839- 1842). China embarrassingly experienced defeat after defeat and was forced to sign what they call the “Unfair Treaties”. Now with opium flowing into China, silver was flowing back to Britain which is what they needed to support their empire. War was again sparked when a Chinese official bordered a British vessel for an inspection. The Second Opium War was from 1856-1860.
Why is all of this important? Before this time period opium was more widely used for medicinal purposes, but now it was being smoked on a large scale. The drug devastated China’s population with around twelve million users at one point in time. The users would frequent opium dens where they could smoke around three pipes worth of the drug and recline on hard benches. This habit would quickly dwindle their money and keep them from earning more. The same phenomenon took hold of all of Southeast Asia.
Around the time of the Vietnam War the hill tribes of the Golden Triangle increased their production of opium due to the large revenue they could make. The drug would fund many armies, be abused by American soldiers, and some claim even transported via the CIA. In today’s world the largest producers of opium are Afghanistan, Columbia, Mexico, Myanmar, Turkey, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, India, and China. Thailand’s Royal Family has done a good job of combating the growth of opium in the Thai part of the Golden Triangle. They have encouraged education programs and taught the tribes that they can make money via other crops such as tea. The even founded the Hall of Opium, an atheistically pleasing museum that walks through the history of opium and the dangers of its use. The museum also touched on other drugs such as Heroine, which interestingly enough Bayer developed as a medical treatment for opium addiction. Oops! Just as a side note, Thailand enforces the death penalty for anyone importing, exporting, or selling opium. Not worth it!
We were very lucky that Ari was willing to drive us two hours to visit the Hall of Opium. The day before we had driven there on scooters only to discover it was closed. It was an amateur move. We just didn’t process that it was a Monday. The museum was excellent and can easily take over two hours. We also took some photos of the official Golden Triangle Point where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet. If you aren’t going to the Hall of Opium (which is different from the House of Opium), the area really isn’t worth the trip. All you will see on the Laos side is a massive Chinese casino and on the Myanmar side you will see vegetation. I guess people visit just for the novelty of saying they have seen it.
In summary, drug use is bad for the individual and the society as a whole. No drugs- Check.
The infamous Opium Wars brought China to its knees and showed the world what many already knew, drugs not only ruin individuals’ lives, but entire societies. It began with Britain’s need to finance its imperialistic endeavors. With control of the seas, Britain was able to prosper from trade. Slaves were traded from Africa to the Americas whom were then used to grow raw materials such as sugar and cotton which Britain needed. On the other side of the world India was producing Britain’s opium. Britain was able to trade manufactured goods to the Americas, India, and Africa. China on the other hand was only interested in silver at that time. The Qing Dynasty felt superior to the western powers and withheld a stringent isolation policy. Traders were only able to enter certain ports in the south of China and they had to trade via a government appointed middle man. The emperor proclaimed an edict forbidding the trade and use of opium. Already fearing the growing number of addicts within his kingdom, he wanted to cut off the source of their addiction. The opium that the British successfully and illegally traded along the Chinese coast was received with enthusiasm by the locals. As the Chinese craving for the drug and dependency grew, Britain continually pushed for an open market with China. The financial gain of unrestricted opium trading with China would be huge. In the eyes of the East India Company opium was just another good.
As tensions rose the British looked for an excuse to instigate conflict. This excuse was given to them on a plate when the Chinese official Commissioner Lin Zexu confiscated and destroyed thousands of crates of British opium. This began the first Opium war (1839- 1842). China embarrassingly experienced defeat after defeat and was forced to sign what they call the “Unfair Treaties”. Now with opium flowing into China, silver was flowing back to Britain which is what they needed to support their empire. War was again sparked when a Chinese official bordered a British vessel for an inspection. The Second Opium War was from 1856-1860.
Why is all of this important? Before this time period opium was more widely used for medicinal purposes, but now it was being smoked on a large scale. The drug devastated China’s population with around twelve million users at one point in time. The users would frequent opium dens where they could smoke around three pipes worth of the drug and recline on hard benches. This habit would quickly dwindle their money and keep them from earning more. The same phenomenon took hold of all of Southeast Asia.
Around the time of the Vietnam War the hill tribes of the Golden Triangle increased their production of opium due to the large revenue they could make. The drug would fund many armies, be abused by American soldiers, and some claim even transported via the CIA. In today’s world the largest producers of opium are Afghanistan, Columbia, Mexico, Myanmar, Turkey, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, India, and China. Thailand’s Royal Family has done a good job of combating the growth of opium in the Thai part of the Golden Triangle. They have encouraged education programs and taught the tribes that they can make money via other crops such as tea. The even founded the Hall of Opium, an atheistically pleasing museum that walks through the history of opium and the dangers of its use. The museum also touched on other drugs such as Heroine, which interestingly enough Bayer developed as a medical treatment for opium addiction. Oops! Just as a side note, Thailand enforces the death penalty for anyone importing, exporting, or selling opium. Not worth it!
We were very lucky that Ari was willing to drive us two hours to visit the Hall of Opium. The day before we had driven there on scooters only to discover it was closed. It was an amateur move. We just didn’t process that it was a Monday. The museum was excellent and can easily take over two hours. We also took some photos of the official Golden Triangle Point where Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand meet. If you aren’t going to the Hall of Opium (which is different from the House of Opium), the area really isn’t worth the trip. All you will see on the Laos side is a massive Chinese casino and on the Myanmar side you will see vegetation. I guess people visit just for the novelty of saying they have seen it.
In summary, drug use is bad for the individual and the society as a whole. No drugs- Check.
