Confiscated methamphetamine machine used for Fah Talai Jone pill production

[Jonathan Fairfield]

 

The Thai Justice ministry has modified a tablet press, confiscated from an illicit drug manufacturing network, to produce Fah Talai Jone (Green Chiretta) tablets, in an effort to alleviate the country’s COVID-19 medicine shortage.

 

The ministry will be able to produce 20,000 x 500mg tablets of Fah Talai Jone per hour, according to the ministry.

 

A tablet contains 300mg of Fah Talai Jone powder, 150mg of Microcrystalline Cellulose, 47.5mg of Talcum and 2.5mg of Magnesium Stearate.

 

The ministry said the private sector has supplied 600 kilograms of Fah Talai Jone, which will enable them to produce 1.5 million tablets in the first batch.

 

Full story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/confiscated-methamphetamine-machine-used-for-fah-talai-jone-pill-production/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2021-08-22

 

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[ThailandRyan]

Hope they cleaned the machine up first, or that first batch may have an unexpected rush for the patients that use those first few pills.....lol

[pegman]

Sounds like a money maker. In desperate times people are willing to take  any old concoction 

[bbko]

The (Thai Justice) ministry will be able to produce 20,000 x 500mg tablets of Fah Talai Jone per hour...

 

There isn't a department better suited to produce the tablets??  What next? The Ministry of Tourism and Sports to defend Thai borders? 555. 

[RJRS1301]

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Thai-billionaire-to-build-herbal-drug-factory-to-fight-COVID-19

 

Thai billionaire to build herbal drug factory to fight COVID-19

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, pegman said:

Sounds like a money maker. In desperate times people are willing to take  any old concoction 

Thailand still trying to prove to the world the old ways of the medicine man work best, just like the Chinese drugstores of old.

[Shuya]

From drugs to voodoo. That machine had quite the life.

[tingtong]

Life is like a  box of chocolate...

 

On the label: 

"Allergies warning: you Fah Talai Jone may contain traces of JaBa"

 

 

 

[mtls2005]

The regime should just let a contract for the production of FTJ  (Ya Fah) out to the cartels operating in Myanmar and Cambodia.

 

They seem quite efficient at sourcing precursors, manufacturing, transportation and distribution.

 

 

[jollyhangmon]

1 hour ago, pegman said:

Sounds like a money maker. In desperate times people are willing to take  any old concoction 

 

... no mate, we both assumed wrong here, CP for example is just '... lending a helping hand ...' - quoted from the Nikkei Asia article linked above, 555 ...

 

Edited August 22, 2021 by jollyhangmon

[Kinnock]

I'm normally sceptical about herbal remedies and any claims that some random drug developed for other purposes can help with COVID-19 symptoms, and 30 seconds on Google is normally enough to find a scientific paper indicating that the herb or drug is useless or worse.

 

But after the wife worked hard to buy some of these tablets, I did my usual skeptics search, and although there's no conclusive, peer-reviewed scientific paper saying it definitely helps with COVID symptoms, there's several saying that it might help.

 

I filtered out any research from Thailand, plus any sponsored by the Thai Herbal Society due to possible bias,  but there was still a few proper scientific papers showing that it does have active medicinal properties, and the conclusion seems to be that it helps with mild COVID symptoms.

 

One paper pre-dated the pandemic, and it concluded that it was an effective anti-inflammatory and was able to inhibit viral growth.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3619690/

 

So the Thais might be on to something.

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

 

The Thai Justice ministry has modified a tablet press, confiscated from an illicit drug manufacturing network, to produce Fah Talai Jone (Green Chiretta) tablets, in an effort to alleviate the country’s COVID-19 medicine shortage.

Seriously, this is the extent of the Thai covid preparedness ?? That they are blocked from medical production by something as basic as a pill press ?? 

And no other source could be found... Like er.. opening ali express !! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001602808138.html?

[wombat]

1 hour ago, Kinnock said:

So the Thais might be on to something.

like the Readers Digest said...Laughter,The Best Medicine.
Physician heal thyself, if you believe what you are taking works and are happy about it, endorphins are produced. you're  half way to recovery.

[pegman]

2 hours ago, jollyhangmon said:

 

... no mate, we both assumed wrong here, CP for example is just '... lending a helping hand ...' - quoted from the Nikkei Asia article linked above, 555 ...

 

Yeah, that CP Group is a generous lot, 555.

[ukrules]

3 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Thailand still trying to prove to the world the old ways of the medicine man work best, just like the Chinese drugstores of old.

Money, they're trying to make money by manufacturing and selling placebos.

[dddave]

4 hours ago, Kinnock said:

I'm normally sceptical about herbal remedies and any claims that some random drug developed for other purposes can help with COVID-19 symptoms, and 30 seconds on Google is normally enough to find a scientific paper indicating that the herb or drug is useless or worse.

 

But after the wife worked hard to buy some of these tablets, I did my usual skeptics search, and although there's no conclusive, peer-reviewed scientific paper saying it definitely helps with COVID symptoms, there's several saying that it might help.

 

I filtered out any research from Thailand, plus any sponsored by the Thai Herbal Society due to possible bias,  but there was still a few proper scientific papers showing that it does have active medicinal properties, and the conclusion seems to be that it helps with mild COVID symptoms.

 

One paper pre-dated the pandemic, and it concluded that it was an effective anti-inflammatory and was able to inhibit viral growth.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3619690/

 

So the Thais might be on to something.

I have no doubt that there are a multitude of herbal and traditional medicines that have medicinal merit.  The sad fact is that there is limited profit in sourcing, producing and distributing them because no patent exclusivity.  This means that the very detailed and expensive clinical trials needed to legitimize a medication don't get funded and don't get done. 

It's Frustrating that the US FDA spends billions subsidizing the big pharma industries yet does little to fund such clinical trials of perhaps useful herbal & traditional medications.

Edited August 22, 2021 by dddave

[tomacht8]

The Thai Justice ministry has modified a tablet press...

 

Sounds like lawyers are trying their hands at being machinists. TiT

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

A tablet contains 300mg of Fah Talai Jone powder, 150mg of Microcrystalline Cellulose, 47.5mg of Talcum and 2.5mg of Magnesium Stearate.

And the first batch a hint of something else?

[Thingamabob]

7 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

Seriously, this is the extent of the Thai covid preparedness ?? That they are blocked from medical production by something as basic as a pill press ?? 

And no other source could be found... Like er.. opening ali express !! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001602808138.html?

As you are fully aware this is by no means the extent of Thai preparedness. True they are struggling and have a lot to answer for, but so do many other countries.

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

As you are fully aware this is by no means the extent of Thai preparedness. True they are struggling and have a lot to answer for, but so do many other countries.

But the very fact that its news worthy that they have to repurpose a confiscated item.. When a superior item is easily purchased.. Shows how weak the preparedness is... 

I dont see many other countries running news item about needing to repurpose confiscated drug trade equipment to make herbal pills with unproven effectiveness.. 

[RubbaJohnny]

Hi-Speed production, stamp it out? Yabba Dabba don't.

[digger70]

Confiscated methamphetamine machine used for Fah Talai Jone pill production. 

 

It's a Pill making machine ,it's got noting to do with making Meth. It may have been used to press some pills with some meth in it .

That doesn't make it an Meth machine .

 

 

[canthai55]

17 hours ago, dddave said:

It's Frustrating that the US FDA spends billions subsidizing the big pharma industries yet does little to fund such clinical trials of perhaps useful herbal & traditional medications.

They also actively block people to source the required drugs from other sources.

When I was on Hep C cure, I took 2 pills a day. for 90 days.

One pill cost $1000 USD each. Can't remember the price of the other.

Full course of treatment, pills manufactured in India - generic - $2000 USD

If you wanted the Indian, you were forced to break the law in importing them.

[Ralf001]

No dried whale penis ?

[dddave]

10 hours ago, canthai55 said:

They also actively block people to source the required drugs from other sources.

When I was on Hep C cure, I took 2 pills a day. for 90 days.

One pill cost $1000 USD each. Can't remember the price of the other.

Full course of treatment, pills manufactured in India - generic - $2000 USD

If you wanted the Indian, you were forced to break the law in importing them.

The truly obscene prices US pharma is allowed to charge for medicines protected by patent is a racket like no other.  Pharma channels money into the FDA and Congress in so many ways that there is virtually no chance they will ever be reigned in.   Meanwhile, as you said, those unable to afford $1000 each medication doses are forced to either buy smuggled and frequently counterfeit versions produced in other countries or travel themselves to other countries for treatment.  Meanwhile, health insurance costs are sky high partly as a result of being forced to cover such outrageously priced medications.