A temple stands empty after a drug raid. Robes folded. Bowls untouched. Silence where chanting once lived.

This episode begins inside that abandoned sanctuary, then follows the trail outward to the Golden Triangle, spanning Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, where much of the region’s methamphetamine originates.

From there, we step back into medieval Europe, where monks brewed and sold beer within monastery walls to fund charitable work. Over centuries, intoxicants moved from small-scale religious production to vast, industrialised networks.

From sacred brewing vats to jungle labs producing millions of pills, this is a story of faith, commerce, and how substances evolve alongside human ambition.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-63792923

https://theconversation.com/yabas-grip-how-cheap-methamphetamine-is-fuelling-thailands-addiction-crisis-262765

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-08/thailand-misbehaving-monks-foreign-correspondent/104184056

https://www.vice.com/en/article/buddhist-monks-arrested-thailand/

https://www.historiascripta.org/the-middle-ages/beer-as-a-cultural-and-economic-staple-in-medieval-europe/