Soldiers seized 1.6 million meth pills in two separate arrests along Thailand's northern border.

Troops clashed with around 10 armed individuals trekking through a forest in Chiang Rai on May 19.

A gunfight erupted after the group allegedly opened fire on the soldiers. The skirmish lasted for 10 minutes before the suspected smugglers fled, leaving behind several backpacks.

Officers waited until daylight to inspect the bags, which contained one million meth pills.

On the same day, the 31st Ranger Regiment chased a suspicious vehicle that sped through a checkpoint on Route 1149.

The driver reportedly accelerated after being flagged for inspections. He was cornered in an alley in the Mae Chan District driving a sedan with no license plate.

Police searched his car and found 600,000 meth pills stuffed in sacks.

Authorities said more than 1.6 million pills were confiscated in the operations.

Major General Kittakorn Chanthra, commander of the Pha Muang Task Force, said: 'I have ordered units in the area to tighten security and suppress drugs from flooding into the country.

‘This is in line with the 'Seal Stop Safe' policy in preventing and suppressing narcotics in 51 border districts.'

The Pha Muang Task Force is a unit of the Royal Thai Army tasked with maintaining border security along Thailand's northern borders with Myanmar and Laos.

The Golden Triangle, where most of Southeast Asia's meth supply comes from, is found where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. But it has long been a feral nest of criminal activity, including opium production, meth labs and call centre scam bases.

At the heart of the Golden Triangle lies the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ), run by notorious Chinese business tycoon and suspected crime boss Zhao Wei in the Chinese vassal state Laos. Communist chiefs are said to turn a Nelsonian eye to his wrongdoing.

In 2007, Zhao brokered a deal with the Laos government and obtained a 99-year lease to build the zone on a 39-square mile patch of impoverished Bokeo province.

The Chinese businessman claims to be a benefactor as he touts the GTSEZ as a tourist and economic hub designed to bring more income and investments into the country. However, both local and international law enforcement agencies believe it is a front for organised crime, including human trafficking, drug trafficking, and call-centre scams.

International authorities have struggled to take down the gambling empire as the Laos government itself is said to be protecting the GTSEZ, in which it has a 20 per cent stake.