CHIANG RAI – A 36-year-old woman caused a stir when she tried to sneak methamphetamine and crystal meth into the holding cell at Mae Chan Police Station while visiting her boyfriend. Officers arrested her on the spot.
On Thursday, Mae Chan police detained Ms Nun (last name withheld) from Ban Du subdistrict in Mueang Chiang Rai. She was caught attempting to bring illegal drugs into the station during a visit to her boyfriend, who is in custody for drug offences.
The incident happened on the evening of 20 August. Ms Nun came to Mae Chan Police Station and asked the duty officers for permission to visit her boyfriend, Mr. Deva. She said she wanted to bring him some food.
Investigators joined the visit to keep an eye on things. While checking the food bundle, police saw nothing suspicious. However, they noticed that Ms Nun held a small, clear zip-lock bag in her right hand. When they inspected it, they found one methamphetamine pill and a small amount of crystal meth inside.
Police arrested Ms Nun right away. During questioning, she admitted that she got the drugs from a man in Mae Sai. She planned to give them to her boyfriend in the cell for his personal use. She also confessed she had used methamphetamine before coming to the station. Officers took her into custody and started legal proceedings.
Methamphetamine use remains a serious concern in Chiang Rai, Thailand, largely because of its location near the Golden Triangle. This area is known for producing and moving large amounts of methamphetamine.
Locally called ya ba or “crazy drug”, meth is easy to find and cheap, especially appealing to young people. It is often seen as fashionable or helpful for staying awake and active. While it was once common mainly among workers like truck drivers, many students and young adults now use it for fun.
Chiang Rai’s closeness to the drug routes coming from Myanmar’s Shan State means that meth is widely available. Between October 2024 and August 2025, authorities seized 222 million tablets and 11,462 kilograms of crystal meth in the area.
In 2024, Thai officials started the “No Drugs, No Dealers” campaign. This approach combines strict law enforcement with programmes to help people recover. More than 140,000 people have started rehab across the country. Despite these efforts, ongoing stigma and the easy access to ya ba make it tough for many people in Chiang Rai to quit and move on.
