PHUKET: Phuket police have noted a resurgence of the once-popular illegal drug heroin on the island - with cocaine usage also on the rise.

The two drugs are usually sourced from southern Thailand and have come into wider use as police crack down on dealers and sources of methamphetamines ya bah and ya ice, officers told Phuketwan.

Two Malaysians were arrested on Wednesday at the southern border with seven kilos of heroin valued at seven million baht when they tried to drive a car through a checkpoint.

The latest arrest came yesterday morning when officers on motorbikes on Phuket pursued and apprehended one of two men.

The second man - known only as Khai, a hotel worker - bit an officer and fled.

Acting on a tip-off, police watched a bus from the deep south as it stopped and dropped off a box at a stop in Phuket's Srisoonthorn about 5.30am.

Patrol police challenged the two men who collected the box but they sped off on a motorcycle and struggled when the officers cut off their machine and ended the chase. One officer, Lieutenant Suchart Lercha, was assaulted.

The arrested man, Wik Ninwan, 52, a fresh market vegetables seller in Srisoonthorn, confessed to possession of heroin.

Police found 10 capsules amounting to 49 grams when they opened the box. Officers now have an arrest warrant for Khai.

Thalang Police Station Deputy Superintendent Colonel Amnauy Kawootdhianan said that police activity had forced up the price of methamphetamines, making heroin and cocaine more appealing to local drug-takers again.