Is the opium replacement program, the Royal project, effective in Thailand?

1. By Lalita Oonthonpan Economic Botany Dr. Choinski 31 November 2009 Is the opium replacement program, the Royal project, effective in Thailand?

2. Opium • Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum) • 3-5 mature pods per plant • latex from immature seed pod • Sapping around 2 weeks after the petals fall • Climatic requirements • cool climate (3 - 10 Celsius degrees) • high humidity • Sun is important during the flowering period • After flowering dry soil is necessary.

3. History • Prehistoric • First discovered and domesticated in Mediterranean basin. • Eastern Mediterranean -> Indian -> China • Early European Opium Trade (1640-1773) • Merchants catalyzed the India-China Trades. • Introduced smoking Opium and tobacco in a pipe by the Dutch • Yung Chen banned opium locally in China to increase the profit. • European Mercantilism (1773-1858) • Opium became a major trade commodity. • 1803- Friedrich Sertuerner extracted the active ingredient of opium by dissolving it in acid then neutralizing it with ammonia. Morphine

4. Continue • High Imperial Opium Trade (1858-1907) • Opium and its derivatives, morphine and heroin, had become a major global commodity • China had 27 percent of its adult males addicted to opium • Multilateral Control & Syndicate Crime (1907-1940) • Outlawed opium and its derivatives all over the world • Legal consumptions went down 82 percent (42,000 tons in 1906 to 16,000 tons in 1934.) • Immigrants from China to Southeast Asia -> Demand • Creation of Golden Triangle (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam.) • Drugs smugglers and dealers were active to supply unmet demand of opium. • Bangkok became the major distributor of opium and heroin.

5. Golden Triangle • Twentieth centuries • Golden Triangle (Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam.) as a major site for opium and heroin production • 650 tons in 1981 to 2,956 tons in 1989, becoming the source of 72 percent of world opium supply. • Weaken the local population with opium addiction though brought back significant income

6. Thailand • Poppy cultivation is restricted to Northern mountainous area. • Highlanders of different ethnic minority groups. • Shifting cultivation of opium, rice, and maize -> deforest a new area • Reduction of watersheds area-> lower water supply for irrigation • A report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Evaluation Team showed that an average hill tribe family can manage about 1 acre of poppies. Yield per acre ranges from 1.5–2.5 kg, and the selling price of opium is U.S. $75–130 per kg. • Opium cultivation is outlawed in 1959 • Not alternatives available • The royal project (1969)

7. Royal Project • His Majesty the King in 1969 • Livelyhood of tribesmen and forest • Six mountain experiment stations testing hundreds of temperate-climate fruit trees and vegetables for their potential as cash crops. • Continuous research to increase production • Fruit trees from different countries • apricot trees - Japan grow • peaches and plums - North America • pears and persimmons - Taiwan, • apples - Israel • kiwi fruits - New Zealand.

8. Establishment of Three small - scale canning plants have been set up in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to process agricultural products from hilltribe people and lowlanders in the area. • Assymbly of fresh fruits and vegetable, package and transport to be sold at supermarkets, and hotels. • Schools, primary medical service, education regarding conservation ecology

9. Chrysanthemums • Cut flowers as cash crops • Problem • longer nighttimes • vulnerable to rust diseases • a new strain of chrysanthemum that required less night-time and was more disease resistant. • This increased chrysanthemum production by 70%, and reduced import costs and patent fees. The Internal Rate of Return of this project was estimated at 59%

10. Strawberries • Runners do not propagate well in plastic bags -> a tall plastic container • increased the cash yield from growing strawberries from $560 per hectare to $3,300 per hectare.

11. Result Over 300 hundreds plants cabbage, lettuce, kidney beans, tea, coffee, peaches, apples, various kinds of herbs and decorative flowers. After exportation, these products are available for Thai people

12. Conclusion • Many-fold increases in the incomes of hill-tribe people • many of these crops are permanently used in Thai cooking and therefore Thai culture, even though most are not native to Thailand. • Poppy Cultivation reduced by 80%. • opium can now only be found in very small isolated plots close to or on the border

13. References • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heroin/etc/history.html • http://www.opioids.com/opium/history/index.html • http://www.svt.ntnu.no/iso/Paivi.Lujala/home/DRUGDATA/DRUGDATA%20Opium%20poppy,%20coca%20bush%20and%20cannabis.pdf • http://www.royalprojectthailand.com/general/english/achieve.html • http://www.adkn.org/assets/adkn_55.pdf • http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20265&Cr=drug&Cr1= • http://www.un.org/esa/forests/pdf/national_reports/unff5/thailand.pdf