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Farmers cultivating illicit drug crops are usually among the most marginalized in society. |
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Providing alternatives for them has been a major challenge for drug control efforts in South East Asia over the past four decades. Alternative development has been one of the most successful approaches to this problem. Mrs. Penee Mala is a member of the ethnic Tai Yai hill tribe from Huay Nam Koon Village in northern Thailand. She is one of many who participated in the Pang Mahan deforestation project. Asked about her experience in shifting away from poppy with the support of the project, she told how the alternative development project, which included agricultural assistance, market access support and infrastructure enhancement, gave her family a stable income and her children the chance to attend school and plan for higher education. "My life is stable and secure now and I see a positive future for my children", said Mrs. Mala, explaining that her current situation is completely the opposite to when she was growing poppy. In those days, her children helped with illicit crop cultivation and had no access to education. Her family was also involved in the arms trade, counting and packaging bullets for sale, often forced to hide in the forest when police came searching for drug crop farmers. Penee Mala's positive story is reasonably typical of what happened during the transformation in this part of the Golden Triangle (a major opium producing area, spanning Myanmar, Laos and Thailand) over the past several decades. Brought about by the far-sighted engagement of the Government of Thailand - including support from the very highest political levels - with formerly poppy-growing communities in the Golden Triangle highlands, it has resulted in the virtual eradication of opium poppy cultivation in the Kingdom. Alternative development has brought about a significant decline in poppy cultivation in Thailand, which now accounts for only a negligible portion of total global opium cultivation, according to UNODC figures. |
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