How dependent are you on alcohol?

[jaideedave]

14 hours ago, billd766 said:

I quit 3 years ago.

 

I used to be a heavy drinker until just over 3 years ago, when I sat down and realised that I was drinking 3 or 4 x 750 ml bottles of hong Thong a week.

 

I figured that as I had been drinking beer and spirits since I was 15. at 75 it was time to give my 75 year old body a chance to recover if it can.

 

Now all I drink is 1 mug of Nescafe 3 in 1 coffee with extra milk, and about 3 or 4 litres of water mixed with Oral Resuscitation Salts and a bit of Blue Boy Sala for flavour, a day.

 

I don't really miss it.

 

I have a mixed box of alcohol under the table that has been there for years and I expect my Thai family will drink it off after my cremation.

 

Now I have 1 shot of rum and coke on New Years Eve and that does me for a year.

I just quit 6 months ago.In the end I was drinking 8 beers or 1 small bottle of Sang Som each and every day.I started at 15 and stopped at 72.I'd had enough.

If I could recover all the $ wasted over the decades I'd be a wealthy man.No regrets at all, in fact it was easier to stop than I thought it would be.I immediately lost 10 kilos and sleep much better.I win.

[Gottfrid]

Nah, this is wrong for me. I am not at all dependent on alcohol, but I buy so much so the breweries, wineries and distilleries are dependent on me. Every month they send me letter with promotions and begging me to stay as a customer. I have no problem with alcohol whatsoever.

[JimTripper]

3 hours ago, Lacessit said:

I wouldn't say I am extremely fit. I play golf, swim. I have two exercise routines I do every day. I am 80 yo.

I frankly don't understand boredom and loneliness. IMO that is a choice.

How can I be bored, with so many threads I can respond to?

Because when your skint, living in a shoebox room it’s not easy to just go golfing and feel like life is wonderful.

 

A lot of guys are surviving on meager pensions and are not working, just surrounded by bars.

[Lacessit]

2 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Because when your skint, living in a shoebox room it’s not easy to just go golfing and feel like life is wonderful.

 

A lot of guys are surviving on meager pensions and are not working, just surrounded by bars.

Everything is relative, and determined by attitude. I've holidayed for a month at a time in shearer's quarters in outback Australia, it does not get much more basic than that. A shoebox room in Thailand is probably luxurious by comparison.

 

I'd suggest people who are skint, or on meager pensions, would find there are better options than drinking in bars, with a bit of effort.

Their choice if they prefer oblivion.

[JimTripper]

34 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Everything is relative, and determined by attitude. I've holidayed for a month at a time in shearer's quarters in outback Australia, it does not get much more basic than that. A shoebox room in Thailand is probably luxurious by comparison.

 

I'd suggest people who are skint, or on meager pensions, would find there are better options than drinking in bars, with a bit of effort.

Their choice if they prefer oblivion.

A holiday in a small room is not the same as living there. Mental mindset is everything, not necessarily the environment you are living in. Ditto with having a home base vs just being stuck somewhere.

 

it’s not all just “sucker up, buddy and go golfing!”. There’s more too it then that, reality!

 

Same with booze. Some people can’t “just stop drinking and go golfing!”. There are more factors to consider.

[Walker88]

Two beers a couple nights a week, especially in the hot season. I cannot drink an entire bottle of wine (or prefer not to do so), so always share when I open one. Haven't been drunk since university, and do not even enjoy a mild buzz. I also practice the pilot's law of not operating any vehicle within 8 hours of a drink (easier to lose a pilot's license---by dying in a crash---than a auto/bike license via a police checkpoint).

 

One comment about wine price in Thailand: the more expensive the wine, the closer the price is to its price back home. Importers 'work' with Customs. Cheap wines get the full tax, whereas expensive wines get taxed as if they're cheap. The low tax kicks in at about 1500 baht/btl. Wine Connection wines probably suffer the full tax, whereas move up into medium to high prices, and the tax as a % is minimal.

 

I pay the same price in the US for something like il Bruciato or Le Volte as I do in Thailand (if one buys a mixed case, suppliers will discount). Move up to something like Sassicaia or Guado al Tasso or any Gaja, and I can buy it cheaper in Thailand than the US. I just priced a Fattoria le Pupille Saffredi in Bangkok, and it's about $15 cheaper than I'd pay in the US. Of course an Italian or a Frenchman would pay less back home for his country's wines, but my comparison is Old World wines in the US vs Thailand.

 

If I drank wine every day, likely the tax would impact me more, but as I drink judiciously, I prefer a better wine when I do drink, and thus the tax has minimal impact.

 

Now restaurants and hotels can jack up the price to whatever they want, but it is their margin, not the oft-cursed tax, responsible. If the tax is slashed by the new govt, better wines are unlikely to show much price difference. Cheap wines, however, will.

 

 

[pgrahmm]

52 minutes ago, KannikaP said:

How much would be left in the rum bottle for next Saturday if a few of you are karaokeing for a few hours?

And the coke probably does you more harm than the rum!

Somewhere between 2/3 to 1/2 a bottle left....

Nothing crazy.....

[Mickeymaus]

9 hours ago, JimTripper said:

I wonder why I don’t see more vehicle accidents and such with people drinking so much. Seems like it would be a huge problem here, especially on motorbikes. Almost never see an accident. Maybe they are quickly removed from the road.

Most accidents are caused by people who don't drink - see stats below. What we learn from it ... ????????

 

Data source:

 

https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/drunk-driving/

 

[fredwiggy]

16 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

When I go out to bars with friends then usually I drink.

Sometimes also wine or beer with food.

 

I never had an alcohol problem.

When I am drinking, I always knew when I have enough. Sometimes I stop in the middle of the 20th or whatever drink because I know now it's time to stop.

And after a night out with lots of drinks I never felt like repeating that again rights away. Maybe a few days or a week later, but never the next day.

 

In a way I seem to be lucky with that attitude. Some people just never stop, even if they are already totally wasted. I never understood.

Might want to reconsider if it's a problem. No alcohol problem and "Sometimes I stop in the middle of the 20th or whatever drink because I know now it's time to stop" ??? And "maybe a few days or a week later"??   I drink on the weekend, and have always until recently been a wine drinker, and occasional beer, but wine being expensive here I usually just have a beer or two. When I move back to the US, it will be wine and occasional "good" beer again. Check this link out from a reputable source....................https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/onlinemedia/infographics/excessive-alcohol-use.html

[Fat is a type of crazy]

For the last 20 years or so I have tended to have one small bottle of beer a day. One or two days a week have none. Every now and then have two small or one big bottle if I'm in an excitable mood or such. I wouldn't be good at sitting in a bar in Pattaya. It would make me sad. 

[Lacessit]

31 minutes ago, Mickeymaus said:

Most accidents are caused by people who don't drink - see stats below. What we learn from it ... ????????

 

Data source:

 

https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/car/drunk-driving/

 

This is a good example of there are lies, damn lies and statistics.

An alcohol-related road fatality means one of the participants was classed as over what legal blood alcohol limit applied, when tested in the aftermath.

As any policeman will tell you, some persons involved in a collision will evade testing for as long as possible, so their liver can catch up with reducing the amount of alcohol in their bloodstream. Hyperventilating is another strategy to reduce breath alcohol.

And what of people who are under the legal limit? Driving requires focus and reflexes, alcohol impairs both. That's why some people are restricted to a BAC of 0.02. Which can be reached in the first 30 minutes with just one standard drink.

I'd suggest the data posted is not telling the full story.

[jak2002003]

I never drank alcohol when younger for religious reasons. 

 

Then, at around 24 years old, when I realised religion was a lie, I started enjoying and appreciating life more....which included drinking alcohol. 

 

As I have got older alcohol has lost much of its attraction for me.  I gradually drank less and less. 

 

These days at age 46 I hardly even drink it.  My last drink of alcohol was about 5 months ago. 

 

One factor is the widely available alcohol here in Thailand is #@#%!.

 

Anything that tastes good is imported and is a rip off price.  Even though I could afford it I have no desire to be ripped off and the tax go to the government. 

 

When I visit the UK or abroad I will have an occasional drink, as I can get the stuff I like, such as a good brandy, port or red wine. 

 

 

 

 

[FruitPudding]

Now, that I'm living in Bangkok, I drink once a week in a pub - usually about 5-6 pints - with friends when they are available.

 

When I lived up country, I would drink alone in the garden - usually about one bottle of beer a day.

[FruitPudding]

By the way, processed meat (e.g. hotdog sausage) is a class 1 carcinogen too.

 

I'd say eating highly processed junk is just as bad as, if not worse than, drinking alcohol.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, jaideedave said:

I just quit 6 months ago.In the end I was drinking 8 beers or 1 small bottle of Sang Som each and every day.I started at 15 and stopped at 72.I'd had enough.

If I could recover all the $ wasted over the decades I'd be a wealthy man.No regrets at all, in fact it was easier to stop than I thought it would be.I immediately lost 10 kilos and sleep much better.I win.

Good for you.

 

I am ex RAF and pub crawls at the weekend were normal in the UK. Overseas there wasn't an awful lot to do for a single man plus there was the advantages of duty free.

 

In Germany on camp there were on double shots and duty free beer. I used to put vodka in the screenwash bottle in winter as it was cheaper.

 

When I came out and worked for one company, 2 or 3 pints with lunch and a bottle of wine with dinner was OK on expenses, provided that the receipt only showed as a meal.

 

When I worked here in Thailand, going up country was a body holiday as I seriously overindulged at the weekend.

 

In New Zealand there was a grog shop around the corner next to the pie and chippy shop. Order my food and nip in for a bottle of something to take away.

 

Touch wood that is all behind me now and my body is recovering.

[Neeranam]

I was drinking 2 large bottles of Whisky a day plus 4/5 large large Beer Chang(when it was stronger than now) 

When I was 20, was made go to some Scottish health counselling, and they told me I could drink 35 units per week safely -  they were wrong. When I could remember, I was on about 285 a week. Alcoholics lose the power to choose how much they drink. 

20+ years sober by the Grace of God and AA. 

[herfiehandbag]

When I was a young soldier I used to drink in what can probably be described as industrial quantities.

British Army of the Rhine (BAOR - West Germany) was the worst. The stuff was duty free - it was cheaper to put NAAFI vodka in your car windscreen washers than to buy the antifreeze solution from the garage! Mind you, we were fitter then - a weekend on the piss, neck a carton of orange juice and then an hours beasting  at battle PT to sort the hangover.

 

Couldn't do it now, in fact couldn't do it once I turned 30!

 

Small can of Chang with supper, small bottle of Hong Thong lasts me a week (although I don't bother many weeks), that's about it!

 

Towards the end of the month, if Casa Herfiehandbag is a cash free society ( teenage daughter) I'll go without quite happily.

[jvs]

I usually only have a beer when i eat pizza,that is about 3 or 4 times

per year.

Two weeks ago however i went out with a few friends and ended up in

a pub and had my very first Cider,it was great and i will probably try one again soon.

[Lacessit]

37 minutes ago, FruitPudding said:

By the way, processed meat (e.g. hotdog sausage) is a class 1 carcinogen too.

 

I'd say eating highly processed junk is just as bad as, if not worse than, drinking alcohol.

I think what you mean is processed meat contains carcinogens, I am not aware the WHO has sausages listed as a Class 1 carcinogen.

Many processed meats contain nitrites as a preservative, which reacts to form nitroso-amines with hydrolysed proteins. Those compounds are most definitely carcinogenic in humans.

AFAIK processed meats are not addictive like alcohol can be, although I do have a weakness for bratwurst, boerewors, and Cumberland sausage.

 

[ohpont]

12 hours ago, tgw said:

 

 

[ohpont]

12 hours ago, tgw said:

 

 

 

[ohpont]

 

Trois Rivières? Did you find it in Thailand?

Last time I get some was in Laos, in a petrol station, middle of the afternoon 555

In here, Issan Rum is the one.

Cheers, don't drink and park, parking cause accidents!!!

 

oh

[Pouatchee]

19 hours ago, Lacessit said:

A post on another thread got me to thinking how many farangs here are dependent on alcohol.

my category is not there. i am not dependent at all on alcohol. however, when i do drink... maybe once every month in a half, i binge drink. i get drunk enough that it takes 2-3 days to get back on the saddle. when i was younger, i would drink everyday. as i got older i drink less and less and dont really feel like it anymore. same as weed. i am very pro-weed but i dont feel like smoking anymore. i also have copd and if i had continued drinking i would likely have cirrhosis

[Lacessit]

26 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

my category is not there. i am not dependent at all on alcohol. however, when i do drink... maybe once every month in a half, i binge drink. i get drunk enough that it takes 2-3 days to get back on the saddle. when i was younger, i would drink everyday. as i got older i drink less and less and dont really feel like it anymore. same as weed. i am very pro-weed but i dont feel like smoking anymore. i also have copd and if i had continued drinking i would likely have cirrhosis

I didn't consider binge drinking as a category, my mistake. I've never done it, and can't imagine I would ever want to do so, as I would not like the lack of control I assume is associated with it.

The liver can heal itself from fatty liver induced by alcohol. Cirrhosis is scarring, it is very rare for it to be reversed.

[tgw]

1 hour ago, ohpont said:

 

Trois Rivières? Did you find it in Thailand?

Last time I get some was in Laos, in a petrol station, middle of the afternoon 555

In here, Issan Rum is the one.

Cheers, don't drink and park, parking cause accidents!!!

 

oh

my dad's cellar still has its moments. the Trois Rivières was from 1979, probably bought for around 20$ at the PX at the time.

 

[n00dle]

I used to drink often, much of my social life was cetered around drinking, but booze just lost its appeal for me.

Hangover became increasingly incapacitation and my tolerance dropped, so i quit. 9 have the odd drink now, but cant see much point unless i wnat to get drunk.
"
id rather smaoke a joint.

[n00dle]

1 hour ago, Pouatchee said:

my category is not there. i am not dependent at all on alcohol. however, when i do drink... maybe once every month in a half, i binge drink. i get drunk enough that it takes 2-3 days to get back on the saddle. when i was younger, i would drink everyday. as i got older i drink less and less and dont really feel like it anymore. same as weed. i am very pro-weed but i dont feel like smoking anymore. i also have copd and if i had continued drinking i would likely have cirrhosis

I was binge drinker too, i coud go for a couple days in my hey dey.

mixing alcohol with cocaine was au fait in Bangkok (still is), but the hangover started to outweigh the pleasure. it would also take me a day or two to get right in the end.

i also quit smoking after a false COPD diagnosis -- I got very lucky, i had covid that developed into pnuemonia and the doctor assumed COPD. i suffered for a month or two until another doctorprescibed antibiotics and it clear up in days. I havent had any ymtoms sinceand even my lifelong "athsma" has cleared up entirely without using any meds. 

i just outgrew it, though it took me dacades!

     

[pchappo]

few beers after working day - id say half / half of the week. Dont drink spirits and i dont drink wine. thing is to not let it become a habit ...

[BobBKK]

2 hours ago, billd766 said:

Good for you.

 

I am ex RAF and pub crawls at the weekend were normal in the UK. Overseas there wasn't an awful lot to do for a single man plus there was the advantages of duty free.

 

In Germany on camp there were on double shots and duty free beer. I used to put vodka in the screenwash bottle in winter as it was cheaper.

 

When I came out and worked for one company, 2 or 3 pints with lunch and a bottle of wine with dinner was OK on expenses, provided that the receipt only showed as a meal.

 

When I worked here in Thailand, going up country was a body holiday as I seriously overindulged at the weekend.

 

In New Zealand there was a grog shop around the corner next to the pie and chippy shop. Order my food and nip in for a bottle of something to take away.

 

Touch wood that is all behind me now and my body is recovering.

why are you too worried at your age? enjoy - you seem to love virtual signaling

 

[Goat]

19 hours ago, steven100 said:

you guys crack me up    !!  ...........   hahaha ...

Well I see someone has complained.

 

I drink two little cans of chang per hour from 3 pm beer oclock to dinner at 8pm. Dont even feel it, i just like the refreshing taste. If i did drink all ten in an hour i would feel it.

 

Then a bottle of wine duing a large meal. over one and a half hours. Feeling talkative but not drunk. If I skolled a bottle of wine I would be drunk.

 

Then start on the Chivas after dinner, and drink doubles for the taste. Once again, not overly fast. Maybe 2-3 per hour. Getting drunk but if only drink half a bottle, only medium drunk.

 

There are many people I know who can outdrink me, because of the speed in which they down the drinks. I also get hangovers if drinking quickly.

 

Maybe a teetotaller or light or occassional drinker would not realise or forgets speed is more important than quantity when it comes to drunkeness.

 

I am not an alcoholic. Because I can stop whenever i WANT to.

 

Sorry I offended whoever.