Prescription medication confiscated at Suvarnahumi?

[Maejo Man]

8 hours ago, shaurene said:

My son and I came back from China. When we got home in New Zealand he unpacked his checkin case and his small portable battery pack had been taken out in China, he had a small brass lock on the bag. These are ok if you take it in your carry on. So the lock did not prevent them opening the bag.

 

A good job they did, as these have a nasty habit of exploding, and are banned from checked in luggage. The airline tells you they have to be carried in carry on baggage and are limited to 20,000 mA hours from memory

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, jimn said:

A couple of posts here saying " never carry opiate meds in checked luggage". I would say the reverse. Always carry in checked luggage. I carry 7 months supply of heart and opiate pain relief from my doctor with a copy of repeat prescription from doctor. If I put in carry on luggage it will 100% be questioned on departure and on arrival. In 10 years never had a problem in checked luggage. Baggage checks at Swampy on arrival your having a laugh.

I question some of the OP's claims. 

But, your comments are just total bad judgement.

If you have legit heart and pain meds, it is recommended 99% that you keep them with you in your carry on bag.

Why take the risk of a theft, confiscation, or lost luggage with checked baggage?? 

If one has documents supporting their meds, keep them close to the vest why God would one risk their health and possible death??

Unless I guess, it is all bogus and fraud.

[tifino]

9 hours ago, Argus Tuft said:

To clarify my previous post again - there are NO declarations to be made on the Thailand TM6 arrival card about bringing anything in to the country.

And as for the Medicine Checking Counter you mentioned - are you sure you don't mean the general Green and Red Customs lanes?

 

i do so much flitting around in and out of different countries, the lines start to get a little blurrred.

Now focussing back on Thai Entry yeah that is correct one doesn't write anything down in Declaration;

but one still has to make the decision as to go the Yes or the No; Red vs Green whatever it doesn't matter,

but the same result happens for whatever the respective country does at Immigration point.

I simply keep to a Yes or a No, and I go for the Yes, or in whatever speak you want... the Red; as that means I go the quicker queue...  

 

The medicines Check point had nothing to do with the Customs or the Immigration check points... it was all by itself.

I can't recall whether it was before or after whichever the Immigration, or the Customs ?

I'll be able to refresh an answer in November, when yet again I'll be showing my Dr's Letter, to cover my cache of Meds yet again...

 

 

any hows the Declaration is a Vote with the Feet instead of the Pen

[jimn]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

I question some of the OP's claims. 

But, your comments are just total bad judgement.

If you have legit heart and pain meds, it is recommended 99% that you keep them with you in your carry on bag.

Why take the risk of a theft, confiscation, or lost luggage with checked baggage?? 

If one has documents supporting their meds, keep them close to the vest why God would one risk their health and possible death??

Unless I guess, it is all bogus and fraud.

Thanks for your comments. Of course I keep immediate needs close to me, not to as you say is stupid. I am speaking about 7 month supplies way to much for hand luggage. Can be replaced expensively yes but never had a problem so far.

[DJ54]

I don’t know the policy in Thailand. In USA is they open your bag there’s 

a paper from TSA in the bag. 

[Langsuan Man]

11 hours ago, moogradod said:

I agree that this would be completely logical - unfortunately the Thai Autorities do not officially allow medicaments to be transported in the carry on luggage (its on the net). Best is to carry a prescription from your doctor indicating the doses as well (also an official requirement). Another one is that you may only import as much as you need for one month (can be really a problem if you stay longer - see your own comment concerning replacement).

If that was really the case I sure wouldn't fly Thai but Thai Authorities don't dictate what can or cannot be in you carry on luggage, the airline does.  And I know of no airline that restricts prescription medicine form carry on , with the exception of liquids, over a certain amount 

 

I think you are blowing smoke, airlines don't want you to lose medicine and rarely does a carry on go missing and they know that, now you do too 

Edited September 20, 2018 by Langsuan Man

[HerbalEd]

On 9/18/2018 at 9:30 PM, bbi1 said:

Ever thought about putting a padlock on your checked suitcase? That way nobody can put stuff into your bags (drugs) or steal stuff from it.

If customs or security officers wants to look inside a locked bag, they will simply break the lock or otherwise cut the bag to get inside.

[FritsSikkink]

16 hours ago, jimn said:

Thanks for your comments. Of course I keep immediate needs close to me, not to as you say is stupid. I am speaking about 7 month supplies way to much for hand luggage. Can be replaced expensively yes but never had a problem so far.

I think you need an import license for a 7 month's supply.

[Lokie]

I had my checked luggage searched at swampy about 6 yrs ago coming in from UK when I collected at carousel it had a white sticker saying case had been opened by Thai security etc and re-sealed. Nothing was missing. 

 

Does not matter what locks you have on luggage if security want to get in it they can and zipped luggage you don't even need a key for locks as you can easily get in through zipper then re zip it and would not look like it had been breached.

 

 

 

[Ks45672]

On 9/20/2018 at 10:57 AM, The Deerhunter said:

Thieves love zippered suitcases.  They open with a ballpoint pen and re-close with two tweaks of the zip.   All suit cases are dead easy to open.  I used to work for aircargo in my youth and people who did not want to come to the airport to personally clear un-accompanied baggage used to pay us (the airline) to clear it for them and have it delivered.  Trust me . Almost all ll suitcases are dead easy to open.   

 

You don't mention the destination but some airports have a reputation of theft in the baggage handling room.  All they have to do is look in any interesting case or look on the xray machine id there is a group working together. 

My money is on loss at destination.    Surely no Thai is going to steal opiates in Thailand?  Just go and buy an over the counter cough medicine here.

Opiates are highly controlled in Thailand 

He may have  more trouble replacing them than losing them as mentioned

[The Deerhunter]

5 hours ago, Ks45672 said:

Opiates are highly controlled in Thailand 

He may have  more trouble replacing them than losing them as mentioned

Tincture of opium is a common ingredient in a number of over the counter cough medicines.  

I have bitter experience of my wife bringing some back to our overseas home by accident.

Edited September 21, 2018 by The Deerhunter

[Ks45672]

2 minutes ago, The Deerhunter said:

Tincture of opium is a common ingredient in a number of over the counter cough medicines.  

I have bitter experience of my wife bringing some back to our overseas home by accident.

Not all opiates are created equal, 

Depending on the type and quantity lost it maybe difficult to get replacements

 

When I was in hospital I was on  a cocktail of opiates via the Iv and  tablets every 4-6hrs, morphine and pethidine was the best relief, the pain lifted like a cloud about 30 seconds after the injection.... 

 

I assumed I would get equivalent pain meds to take at home but Dr said no... If the pain is too bad come back and see me

 

I left  with diclofenac (poor substitute imo) but no opiates, was able to buy a few packs of tramadol from a pharma so I survived but I have experience of a couple of hospitals reluctant or refuse to give them to take at home

 

[bkk6060]

I had 5 boxes of Cialis taken out of my checked baggage and there was a security sticker on it.

But, Opiates are like gold to some people.

Next time put a bar of gold in your checked baggage and see how long it lasts....

[The Deerhunter]

6 hours ago, Ks45672 said:

Not all opiates are created equal, 

Depending on the type and quantity lost it maybe difficult to get replacements

 

When I was in hospital I was on  a cocktail of opiates via the Iv and  tablets every 4-6hrs, morphine and pethidine was the best relief, the pain lifted like a cloud about 30 seconds after the injection.... 

 

I assumed I would get equivalent pain meds to take at home but Dr said no... If the pain is too bad come back and see me

 

I left  with diclofenac (poor substitute imo) but no opiates, was able to buy a few packs of tramadol from a pharma so I survived but I have experience of a couple of hospitals reluctant or refuse to give them to take at home

 

We are away from the original topic which is who and where removed his stuff and why.   My money is on theft at the other end but they would not have had much time to do it unless it was unaccompanied baggage.   Bags are out of the plane and on the carousel usually in less than 1/2 an hour after the plane landed   I had not drugs, but other desirable stuff stolen between check-in and flying when leaving one country but thieves have up to 2 or 3 hours at departure and little time at arrival.    The guy who stole it then gave some to his brother who then showed my friend whom I had been staying with as was curious and he knew my friend knew about this stuff and, yes, he sure did.   The thief and his mates lost their jobs.  Quite a few drugs are controlled here and some  of the stronger or more easily abused types of Opiates may well be controlled.  But obviously not all and  when all is said and done, any opiates are gold to addicts so it could have happened here. Theoretically officials would have left a note.  Most suitcases have very simple locks and can be easily defeated.  Youtube has lots of vids on lock picking and making lock pick tools so it is not difficult to learn.  And as I said in another post, zipper suitcases can be opened in 2 seconds with a ball point pen and relocked with two tweaks of the zip or or raided through an external zip pocket leaving no external evidence.   

[ResandePohm]

On 9/20/2018 at 8:54 PM, jimn said:

Thanks for your comments. Of course I keep immediate needs close to me, not to as you say is stupid. I am speaking about 7 month supplies way to much for hand luggage. Can be replaced expensively yes but never had a problem so far.

You are not permitted to bring more than one months supply of medication into Thailand. So you are breaking the law from the outset.

Edited September 22, 2018 by ResandePohm

[jimn]

54 minutes ago, ResandePohm said:

You are not permitted to bring more than one months supply of medication into Thailand. So you are breaking the law from the outset.

Thank you for your comment. I will just bring 1 month supply and become sick sometime over the following 6 months. Thanks again for enlightening me

[Argus Tuft]

1 hour ago, ResandePohm said:

You are not permitted to bring more than one months supply of medication into Thailand. So you are breaking the law from the outset.

Link for official information supporting this please

Have often brought more than a month's supply (3-6 months in most situations) of medication.
I never declare it - some of my medications are restricted - however I always have had Doctor's prescription and a letter to support
Was searched once (Green lane, x-ray and open bags) but the prescription and letter was suffice

What is this law of one month's medication supply? Not saying it doesn't exist, but would like to know for my reference thank you

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This EN document from one of the Thai consulates abroad seems like a pretty clear explanation of the applicable regulations.

 

http://www.thaiconsulatevancouver.ca/consulate/documents/consular-service/medication.pdf

 

Carrying Personal Medications into Thailand

A. Medications containing narcotic drugs of category 2

The Ministry of Public Health issued the Ministerial Regulation B.E. 2552 (2009)under the Narcotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979), amended by the Narcotics Act B.E. 2545 (2002). It became effective on September 29, 2009. According to the newregulation, travellers to Thailand under medical treatment are allowed to carry medications containing narcotic drugs of Category 2 for personal treatment in a quantity not exceeding 30 days of prescribed usage and must follow the applicable regulations strictly.
 

Travellers to Thailand under treatment of these medications are required to obtain a permit (Form IC-2) issued by the Food and Drug Administration before travelling to Thailand

 

The quantity of the medication transported into Thailand

must not exceed 30 days of prescribed usage.

 

To apply for the permit, please download the

application form (Form IC-1) and supplement from

http://narcotic.fda.moph.go.th/faq/download.php

and submit the completed form along with copies of the medical prescription and the required certificate at least two weeks before the

arrival date by:

Fax: (66) 2591 8471

or

Email: tnarcotics @ fda.moph.go.th

or

Mail:

Narcotics Control Division

Food and Drug Administration

Ministry of Public Health

Nonthaburi 11000, THAILAND

 

The following documents must be submitted:

1.1 Application form (Form IC-1)

1.2 Medical prescription written by the physician who provided the medical treatment, which must contain the following:

--the name and address of the patient

--the identified medical condition

--the name of the medications and the reason that those medications were prescribed for the patient's treatment

--the posology and total amount of medications prescribed

--the name, address, and license number of the prescribing physician

1.3 Certificate issued by a competent authority of the country of departure toconfirm the patient’s legal authorization to carry those medications for

personal use.

[see Appendix A. Model Form of the Certificate for the

Carrying by Travellers under Treatment of Medications Containing Narcotic Drugs and/or Psychotropic Substances]

 

Examples of narcotic drugs in Category 2 according to The Narcotics Act B.E. 2522 (1979), which are controlled under the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961):

Codeine, Dextropropoxyphene, Dihydrocodeine, Fentanyl, Hydrocodone,

Hydromorphone, Methadone, Morphine, Oxycodone, Pethidin

 

There are other sections of requirements for other categories of drugs....

.

Edited September 22, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[tifino]

 

Just looking bat that last part...

 

I had Oxycontin, and all was okay, when had the Drs letter and script in hand.

 

 

I wonder how the various Benzocaine, Lignocaine, Prilocaine products all would be reacted to? 

 

In Oz you don't even need a script...

and it's great for P.E sufferers - even though it's intended usage is in Oral or Topical applications for pain deadening

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I see the same consulate document, in addition to the above described permitting process, has a subsequent section on what exactly they want people to do at Suvarnabhumi airport when coming in or departing with any Category 2 drugs (which includes most of the heavy duty pain killers):

 

4. Advice for Travellers to Thailand carrying Medications

 

Those travellers carrying medications containing narcotics of category 2 are

required to declare the medications they are carrying into/out of Thailand.

Please have all medications and documents prepared and available for inspection:

-

Entry into Thailand: you must present the medications/documents at the

Customs Dept. Red Channel

-

Exit from Thailand: you must present the medications/documents at the

Customs Dept.official upon request

 

All related documents should be kept with the traveller throughout their stay in Thailand.

Edited September 22, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[tifino]

14 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I see the same consulate document, in addition to the above described permitting process, has a subsequent section on what exactly they want people to do at Suvarnabhumi airport when coming in or departing with any Category 2 drugs (which includes most of the heavy duty pain killers):

 

4. Advice for Travellers to Thailand carrying Medications

 

Those travellers carrying medications containing narcotics of category 2 are

required to declare the medications they are carrying into/out of Thailand.

Please have all medications and documents prepared and available for inspection:

-

Entry into Thailand: you must present the medications/documents at the

Customs Dept. Red Channel

-

Exit from Thailand: you must present the medications/documents at the

Customs Dept.official upon request

 

All related documents should be kept with the traveller throughout their stay in Thailand.

phew! this will help Argus! 

  - the above quoted, is just as how I had experienced the scenario...

[Argus Tuft]

4 minutes ago, tifino said:

phew! this will help Argus! 

  - the above quoted, is just as how I had experienced the scenario...

?

 

Cheers tifino!

 

Yeah got the idea now, and thanks to you and others for posting ?

 

Was interesting to see all of this, it hasn't been my experience and I imagine its a different situation in practise - but good to know anyway

[5633572526]

On 9/19/2018 at 11:30 AM, bbi1 said:

Ever thought about putting a padlock on your checked suitcase? That way nobody can put stuff into your bags (drugs) or steal stuff from it.

If you put a lock that is not accessible to tsa they will definitely cut it off and search your bags

[jrjrjr]

On 9/19/2018 at 7:44 AM, Farma said:

My checked bag has been opened twice in the last couple of years. Each time my bag has a white sticker (about 3" x 5") on it stating it had been opened and inspected by Suwannaphum customs.

 

Inspected when leaving the country ? Really ?

 

 

[stud858]

On 9/19/2018 at 2:30 PM, bbi1 said:

Ever thought about putting a padlock on your checked suitcase? That way nobody can put stuff into your bags (drugs) or steal stuff from it.

There is no way to secure important stuff. Baggage zips and locks easy to defeat. Never check in what you can't afford to lose or don't have insurance for. 

[The manic]

On 9/19/2018 at 5:47 AM, Farma said:

Blame the yanks for introducing TSA locks on suitcases. Anyone with a TSA key can open them.

Have them cellophane wrapped.

[Ks45672]

18 minutes ago, The manic said:

Have them cellophane wrapped.

 

If they see anything curious on the xray or the dog barks they will take a blade to your cellophane without thinking twice

 

Things you can't live without like medication should really be in the cabin with you at all times, same for your cash and valuables 

 

[The manic]

24 minutes ago, Ks45672 said:

 

If they see anything curious on the xray or the dog barks they will take a blade to your cellophane without thinking twice

 

Things you can't live without like medication should really be in the cabin with you at all times, same for your cash and valuables 

 

I understand they can open the cellophane. But at least you are clear about what has happened and it prevents casual interference.

[Ks45672]

8 minutes ago, The manic said:

I understand they can open the cellophane. But at least you are clear about what has happened and it prevents casual interference.

 

Yes, it helps protects you or at least make it more obvious when your luggage has been tampered with 

 

But anything valuable should be in the carry on....Suitcases do occasionally get lost or put on the wrong flights 

 

I don't even lock my suitcase but they're is never anything in it that is particularly worth stealing... 

 

If they stole my clothes my wife would love it because she has wanted to throw some of them away for years... ???? 

 

 

 

 

[The manic]

On 9/22/2018 at 12:13 PM, jimn said:

Thank you for your comment. I will just bring 1 month supply and become sick sometime over the following 6 months. Thanks again for enlightening me

You can use your prescription to visit a dr or hospital to get your medicine.  Maybe add some valium. Chill out.