schmangle- You may think its "cheap" but when the minimum wage in, Bangkok is $4, its actually not that cheap to the general population.
- prices not allowed, so I can't quote. Used to be super cheap, after the Thaksin crackdown, prices went up a lot (x 10) and there does seem to be a slow-down in use. Prior to that, it was dirt cheap. Not sure where you got your stats on min wage in Bangkok - that may be true for building site workers but your "average" worker (even motorcycle guys) earn more than that.
And even high grade ice was a few more bucks than a yabba pill, and is way better quality than any of the stuff here.
Are we talking crystal meth here? In Bangkok its WAAAAAY more expensive for anything of qood quality.
BongoBongo: as far as I know, most yaba is still manufactured in Burma and smuggled in, often via Cambodia. Also heard China has many more labs these days.
I had a few links to studies done by universities in thailand as to the average composition - now can't find correct keywords - most were amphetamine/methamphetamine + various additives (caffeine, pseudoephedrine etc being the most common).
Basically, as with "ecstasy" in Thailand, you really don't know what you're getting in your pill.
Some interesting articles from foreign journalists:
http://www.tomhilditch.com/stories/yaba.htm
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,100581,00.html