This issue examines drug market developments in the region. The first story provides an update on Thailand’s cannabis industry, exploring how legalization has given rise to illegal international drug smuggling.¹ The second story builds on research published in the monitor’s second issue, exploring the experiences of drug users in Cambodia as they navigate the country’s punitive legal system and inadequate rehabilitation programmes. The third article takes stock of ketamine production in Vietnam: one year after a major production facility in Nha Trang was dismantled, we look at what the case tells us about Vietnam’s role in the Mekong’s synthetic drug economy.

This issue also provides insights into other regional vulnerabilities. Taking the example of the Sithandone special economic zone (SEZ) in Laos, currently under construction, the fourth article looks at the risk of the geographically isolated gambling and tourism hub becoming yet another criminally infiltrated SEZ in the Mekong region. The final story looks at the increasing monetization of child sexual abuse material in Cambodia and how it is easily accessible through social media platforms.

Collectively, these stories illustrate how organized crime in the Mekong does not emerge from a single vulnerability, but from an interconnected ecosystem of enablers and facilitators, underlining the need for comprehensive, holistic regional responses that address root causes and tackle enforcement gaps.

The Mekong Risk Monitor is a periodic publication by the Mekong Network to Counter Transnational Crimes (MNET-CTC), a programme implemented in partnership by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and the Australian government. The monitor tracks developments in the illicit economies of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, and their intersection with regional development, governance and security issues. It draws on primary and secondary sources, including interviews with key stakeholders such as journalists, state officials and civil society, and open-source data to deliver evidence-based analysis of emerging threats and vulnerabilities.