A clash between 20 drug gangs and Thai border guards occurred on January 13 in a valley just 600 meters from the Myanmar border near Ban Pang Mahan village in Mae Pha Lwin township, Chiang Rai province, on the Thai-Myanmar border. Four Burmese gang members were killed and more than 1,000 kilograms (more than 1 ton) of ice were seized, according to the Chiang Rai province border guard force. Thai authorities said it was the first time they had seized the drug in the new year of 2025. VOA’s Aye Aye Mar reports.
On January 13, at around 10pm, 20 armed drug smugglers and Thai Border Guard troops exchanged fire for about half an hour in a valley near Ban Pang Mahan village, Mae Pha Luang township, Chiang Rai province, just 600 meters from the Myanmar border.
The armed drug smugglers retreated back to Myanmar after the shooting, and on the morning of January 14, Thai Border Guard troops cleared the area of the clash. The Thai Border Guard said that four (4) bodies of the armed drug smugglers and 35 backpacks containing the drug ICE were found in the valley road where the clash took place. The Border Guard Force in Chiang Rai province reported that more than 1,155 kilograms of the drug ICE were seized in these bags. This is the largest seizure of the drug during the 2025 New Year period.
It was also reported that the ICE drugs, which are branded as dragons and worth more than a billion baht, are being produced in ethnic armed areas in Myanmar and transported to third countries via Thailand.
Regarding the increasing drug smuggling, Pol. Lt. Gen. Samran Nuanma, the Thai police chief, spoke in Thai.
“We are working to prevent drugs from spreading within the country. Once caught, drug gangs are able to bring in more and more,” he said.
In December last year, Thai police intercepted a truck carrying 15 million methamphetamine pills in Ayutthaya province, central Thailand, and arrested a young Thai man.
