A drug dealer abandoned more than 110 kilogrammes (242.5 pounds) of crystal meth after crashing during a police chase in Thailand.

The suspect reportedly sparked a pursuit operation after speeding through an anti-smuggling checkpoint in drug-infested Chiang Rai province.

Police had flagged the black Toyota Avanza at 2 am on Tuesday, but the driver was said to have slammed his foot on the accelerator to escape.

However, the alleged dealer crashed his vehicle at a bend near a railway construction site. He then bolted into a roadside forest, leaving behind the massive haul of narcotics.

A police spokesman said: 'Authorities inspected the vehicle and found four sacks containing crystal methamphetamine, weighing approximately 110 kilogrammes. These sacks were seized and awaiting legal action.'

Chiang Rai sits along the Golden Triangle, where most of Southeast Asia's meth supply comes from.

The region 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.