Opium poppies are one of the most beautiful flowers in the world. However their trade has devastated the lives of people in the Golden Triangle.

In 1969, the Thai King started the Royal Development Project for the tribes that reside in these hills. Developing alternative agricultural products, the project helped end locals' dependence on opium to earn a living.

Chairman of Thai Royal Development Project Bhisatej Rajani said:"40 years ago the king went around to this region by air. He traveled to the tribe village to talk to the people to learn their lives. He discovered the hill tribes grew opium, they cut forests, and they were poor. Then the king started Royal Project.