Ya ba

Tablets combining methamphetamine and caffeine

Ya ba ([[:wikt:ยาบ้า, , literally 'crazy medicine') is a drug containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine. It was formerly known as yama ([[:wikt:ยาม้า; literally 'horse drug'), and now goes by a variety of names, including "bikers' coffee" and "kamikaze". Although it is illegal, it has considerable use in Southeast Asia. It is also known as "baba, guti, bedona, ishtup, apple, patthor, dana, poke, bichi, aeroplane, ghora and kalojori."

The drug has gone by various names across time and locations. In Thailand, it went by ya khayan ('hard working pill'), then as ya maa ('horse medicine'), and then ya ba ('crazy pill') in 1996. According to an episode of the television series Drugs, Inc., it is commonly referred to in north Thailand as chocalee, due to its alleged sweet taste and chocolatey smell. In Myanmar (formerly Burma), it is also called kyethi (literally, 'button'), athi, and palarkar. In Malaysia it is known as pil kuda (literally, 'horse pill'). The name commonly used for it in the Philippines and Indonesia is shabú. The name commonly used for it in China is ma goo or ma guo. In Bangladesh, it is colloquially known as baba, guti, laal, khawon, ‘jinish ’, stuff or maal. Ya ba is sometimes called bhul bhuliya in India. According to the US National Drug Intelligence Center, the drug is most commonly referred to in the US as "crazy medicine" and "Nazi speed".

Myanmar is the largest producer of Methamphetamine in the world, with the majority of ya ba found in Thailand being produced in Burma, particularly in the Golden Triangle and northeastern Shan State, which borders Thailand, Laos, and China. In 2010, Burma trafficked 1 billion tablets to neighbouring Thailand.

Ya ba tablets were formerly sold legally at fuel stations and used by long haul drivers to stay awake. The drug was outlawed by the Thai government in 1970. Law enforcement officials said that as of 2002, most of the drug was produced by the United Wa State Army in Myanmar. In 2013, authorities counted more than 33,000 meth related arrests in the northeast. The rapid growth of ya ba use in Isan mirrors that which occurred across Asia, which by 2014 accounted for more than 50 percent of global amphetamine type stimulant consumers.

In 2006, ya ba consumption became common for the poor. Although the extent of ya ba abuse in Bangladesh is not precisely known, seizures of the drug by authorities are frequent. Some Burmese Rohingya refugees are hired by drug dealers to smuggle ya ba from Myanmar into Bangladesh. In 2016, 359 Burmese were arrested on ya ba smuggling charges, and up to US$29 million worth of ya ba was seized by the Bangladeshi authorities.

In Malaysia, it is commonly found in the state of Kelantan, on the border with Thailand. In 2003, the US National Drug Intelligence Center described the drug as having emerging popularity in Asian communities in the US, specifically in California. It was also described as an increasingly popular club drug.