Drug abuse control and the environment in northern Thailand

The ecology in northern Thailand has been affected by the lifestyle of minority groups living there and some ethnic Thai people. Since 1970 development work to improve socioeconomic conditions and national security has been under way. The highlands cover an area of 17 million hectares consisting of forest and watershed areas. A new problem has arisen with the spread of heroin abuse in the neighbouring Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar, producing a negative impact on the ecology, politics and the administration of minority groups. The Government of Thailand has shown flexibility in striving to solve these problems through development work in cooperation with the private sector. This has contributed to good relationships between the countries concerned. Some of the policies and programmes introduced by the Government of Thailand are reviewed in this article.