Thailand’s Drug Scourge: Photographs by James Nachtwey

1 minute read
A raid on suspected meth dealers and users in Thailand's Pattaya City.James Nachtwey for TIME
By James Nachtwey

Get caught using drugs in Thailand, and you’re usually sent for compulsory rehabilitation at one of dozens of boot camps run by the Thai army or police. Flunk the program, or get caught again, and you could end up at the Special Naval School For Drug Addicts’ Rehabilitation in Chonburi Province, where hard-core drug-users get hard-core treatment. This self-styled “school” is located in a prison on Thailand’s largest naval base, about a two-hour drive from the capital Bangkok. Its walls are topped with barbed wire and its gates guarded by armed sentries. It is home to about 160 young Thai men, most of them former methamphetamine users. They will spend from six months to three years here. New arrivals are locked in a cage. Those who try to escape are shackled. The main therapy is grueling, dawn-to-dusk exercise.

The Royal Thai Navy claims its techniques works, although critics maintain that military-style boot camps—still favored by governments across Asia—are inhumane and ineffective.

-Andrew Marshall

A raid on suspected meth dealers and users in Thailand's Pattaya City.James Nachtwey for TIME
A yaba user on the outskirts of Bangkok.James Nachtwey for TIME
A plain clothed police officer makes an arrest during a raid in Pattaya City.James Nachtwey for TIME
Police with Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau examine the haul after a drug bust in Bangkok.James Nachtwey for TIME
Inside the Special Naval School For Drug Addicts' Rehabilitation in Chonburi Province, where hard-core drug-users get hard-core treatment. A new arrival is locked in a cage.James Nachtwey for TIME
This self-styled "school" is located in a prison on Thailand's largest naval base, home to about 160 young Thai men, most of them former methamphetamine users. James Nachtwey for TIME
Inmates form lines inside the Rehabilitation center. The main therapy is grueling, dawn-to-dusk exercise. James Nachtwey for TIME
Inmates lift weights within the prison walls. James Nachtwey for TIME
Many addicts who resisted rehabilitation at other centers are sent to this special "school". The Royal Thai Navy claims its techniques works, although critics maintain that military-style boot camps—still favored by governments across Asia—are inhumane and ineffective. James Nachtwey for TIME
The walls of the "school" are topped with barbed wire and its gates guarded by armed sentries.James Nachtwey for TIME
Shackled inmates bathe inside the "school".James Nachtwey for TIME
Inmates who try to escape are shackled. James Nachtwey for TIME

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com