BANGKOK - Speed has never fit the postcard image of laid-back tropical Thailand. But since the economy accelerated into a higher gear over a decade ago, workers have increasingly sought stimulants to keep them awake all night.

Pep drinks Red Bull, Shark, and M150 weren't enough. Methamphetamine, known in Thai as "yaba" (crazy medicine), has hooked millions: skeletal sex workers dieting on pills as cheap as a plate of pad thai; red-eyed taxi drivers going 160 km/h on the expressway; teen motorcycle racing gangs; staff at techno discos serving pills like beer or whiskey; and village youth hanging around 7-Elevens all night.

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