Poppy cultivation in Burma, Laos and Thailand has shot up for the fourth consecutive year, threatening to roll back steps taken to stem the drug trade in Southeast Asia's notorious Golden Triangle area.

Overall, cultivation in the region has almost doubled since 2006, according to latest U.N. assessment of the opium trade in Southeast Asia.

It warned that the increase had the potential to push up regional opium production in 2010 by a whopping 75 percent from last year, with military-ruled Burma expected to grab the lion's share.

rfa.org