Thai soldiers seized more than 500,000 methamphetamine pills in a gunfight with suspected drug smugglers along the Thai-Myanmar border.

Officers were on a surveillance mission when they noticed a group of suspicious individuals carrying sacks through a field in Chiang Rai province, on the evening of January 10.

The soldiers tried to conduct a search before the group opened fire, sparking a gunfight that lasted for five minutes.

The suspects then fled, leaving behind five sacks containing half-a-million meth pills.

Colonel Thawat Inkong, commander of the Thap Chao Tak Task Force, inspected the scene before handing over the seized drugs to the Chiang Saen Police Station for further legal action.

He said: 'All units were ordered to intensify the interception of drug smuggling along the natural border and to investigate individuals linked to the operation.'

Thailand has become a notorious hub for drug production and trafficking. In the north of the country, the ‘Golden Triangle' area shares borders with Laos and Myanmar, and has produced large amounts of opium since the 1950s but focus in recent years has shifted to the more profitable methamphetamine.

Officials believe most of the meth is produced in the Shan State of Myanmar before being distributed through neighbouring countries where prices are higher before ending up in the most expensive markets of Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

However, cracking down on drug production has been complicated by the influx of crime gangs from China and the Burmese civil war, which has seen the army take over the country - along with control of lucrative drugs chains.