Does living in Thailand drive you to drink?

[Don Giovanni]

Hello all,

 

I am currently in recovery for alcoholism in Kobe. I am receiving excellent care from a brilliant team of doctors, couldn't be better..

 

However, I firmly believe that it was living in Thailand that caused me to become an alcoholic. Just dealing with Thais and their weird ways in general was enough to send anyone for a pint down the pub - add to that the pollution, the traffic, the corruption, the lack of things to do (other than drink), the scamming, cheating women, the heat, the cheapness and easy availability of alcohol itself - my question is, Does living in Thailand drive people to drink? or at least does it have the potential to do so?

 

I have been an alcoholic for almost 30 years now, but I am on the long road to recovery and I am under the best care I could possibly be.

 

It would be impossible to receive the care that I am currently receiving here in Kobe anywhere in Thailand.

 

Compared to Japan, the Thai healthcare system is severely lacking in many areas, especially areas related to addiction and psychiatry. 

 

Kobe Don.

[Ralf001]

Nope.... only been here half my life.

I drank in my home country too.

[Harrisfan]

No I drink less

[Mike_Hunt]

Alcoholics blame everyone but themself.  

[bkk6060]

It drove me to stop completely several years ago.  Being sober is a fantastic way to live.

[Harrisfan]

Do you drink with ladyboys?

[Don Giovanni]

1 minute ago, Harrisfan said:

Do you drink with ladyboys?

Not in Kobe.

 

The Don.

[bubblegum]

No. It's all on you.

[Ralf001]

9 minutes ago, Don Giovanni said:

Not in Kobe.

 

The Don.

pillow biting not a thing out there ?

[steven100]

27 minutes ago, Don Giovanni said:

However, I firmly believe that it was living in Thailand that caused me to become an alcoholic. Just dealing with Thais and their weird ways in general was enough to send anyone for a pint down the pub - add to that the pollution, the traffic, the corruption, the lack of things to do (other than drink), the scamming, cheating women, the heat, the cheapness and easy availability of alcohol itself - my question is, Does living in Thailand drive people to drink? or at least does it have the potential to do so?

totally agree 100%  ..........   why anyone would want to face these lunatics everyday is beyond me   !!   

I find solace in a bar or home, away from that ..... 

[BritManToo]

28 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

No I drink less

Me too,

Less alcohol, more weed!

[4MyEgo]

54 minutes ago, Don Giovanni said:

Compared to Japan, the Thai healthcare system is severely lacking in many areas, especially areas related to addiction and psychiatry. 

 

Agree with you 100% on the above.

 

55 minutes ago, Don Giovanni said:

I am currently in recovery for alcoholism in Kobe. I am receiving excellent care from a brilliant team of doctors, couldn't be better..

 

Kudos for you for finding a suitable place to take care of you and help you on the road to recovery.

 

I lost a brother and a father to the drink, it's a terrible disease and has shattered many families and destroyed many people's lives.

 

I don't drink much, a couple of small light beers when socialising a couple of nights a week, and no alcohol at home.

 

Friend of mine has been off the drink for over a decade after seeking help, he voluntarily checked himself in for 2 weeks while running a business, took meds for a year or so, and hasn't touched a drink since, that said, he does crave it though, but drinking 6 large ones followed by 2 bottles of red at night after work, everyday would have ended him if he didn't believe he had a problem.

 

He actually asked me if I thought he drank too much, we used to meet up once a week with a few of the lads, have a meal, and a couple of beers, then play some stick, he would leave after his second drink, unbeknownst to me, he wanted to get home to drink more and not be over the limit (booze buses). When he asked, he said he had heard that I lost my brother and wanted to know how much he drank and then opened up, I said, black and white, no gray in between, if you want to come and visit my brother one day to see your future resting place, keep drinking, that hit him straight between the eyes.

 

I have the utmost respect for him to this day, and of course am sad that my late brother couldn't have done the same, but his alcoholism was different, he had a lot of pain due to be busted up from accidents, and there is only so much pain relief, painkillers can offer, then it's the hardcore stuff.

 

Best of luck in your recovery. 

[connda]

Good to hear bob.  Well, until you fall off the wagon.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, Don Giovanni said:

.

 

It would be impossible to receive the care that I am currently receiving here in Kobe anywhere in Thailand.

 

 

 

What care are you receiving ?

[connda]

The longer I live here, the less interested I am in being in any other condition other than dealing with reality.
I've done enough alcohol and other chemical enhancement over my lifetime to have have experience one hell of a wide-range, depth, and breadth of realities.  Now I meditate.  I enjoyed the alternated realities, but you have to live in this one, so you might was well go into it's depth and figure out what's there by enhancing the perception naturally.

But hey, if you want to be bombed out of your gourde, feel free.  Been there, done that, it's gotten old.

[connda]

4 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

What care are you receiving ?

I'm guessing he's in a residential 12 step program.

[proton]

1 hour ago, Mike_Hunt said:

Alcoholics blame everyone but themself.  

 Drunks are boring but ex drunks going on about how long it is since they had a drink are worse

[proton]

8 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

What care are you receiving ?

 

Opioid addiction?

[gargamon]

I was going to respond to this thread but I don't reply to AI bot posts.

[TedG]

1 hour ago, Don Giovanni said:

However, I firmly believe that it was living in Thailand that caused me to become an alcoholic. Just dealing with Thais and their weird ways in general was enough to send anyone for a pint down the pub - add to that the pollution, the traffic, the corruption, the lack of things to do (other than drink), the scamming, cheating women, the heat, the cheapness and easy availability of alcohol itself - my question is, Does living in Thailand drive people to drink? or at least does it have the potential to do so?

 

 

You caused yourself to be an alcoholic.   You are the problem, and you won't recover unless you face up to that fact.   Have you taken the time to apologize to all the people you hurt along the way? 

[TedG]

2 minutes ago, gargamon said:

I was going to respond to this thread but I don't reply to AI bot posts.

 

But you did respond. 

[save the frogs]

what percentage of foreigners are alcoholics?

can it even easily be defined? if you're retired and you dont need to work anymore and you're in a bar all day, is it considered alcoholism? 

did meet a thai girl who was dating a foreigner. she said she cut him loose because he had a drug problem. 

 

 

[MarcelV]

After a few years in the Muslim deep south of Thailand, I stopped drinking alcohol instead. In an environment where next to no one drinks, it's pretty easy not to feel tempted. There is no cannabis culture here either. Not that I would ever start using it in the first place.

[gargamon]

1 minute ago, MarcelV said:

After a few years in the Muslim deep south of Thailand, I stopped drinking alcohol instead. In an environment where next to no one drinks, it's pretty easy not to feel tempted. There is no cannabis culture here either. Not that I would ever start using it in the first place.

You will live longer. At least it will seem like longer.

[cjinchiangrai]

50 minutes ago, connda said:

Good to hear bob.  Well, until you fall off the wagon.

Don't give him any more ideas for his literary ramblings.

[cjinchiangrai]

8 minutes ago, save the frogs said:

what percentage of foreigners are alcoholics?

can it even easily be defined? if you're retired and you dont need to work anymore and you're in a bar all day, is it considered alcoholism? 

did meet a thai girl who was dating a foreigner. she said she cut him loose because he had a drug problem. 

Proportional to the distance from Pattaya.

[KhunLA]

Say what ... I drove myself, literally and figuratively to drink, and the wife drove me home.  Well, almost 20 yrs ago and beyond.

 

TH is a location.   Blame your stupidity of a country, if it makes you feel better 

[NorthernRyland]

People get isolated and bored very easily in Thailand which is a breeding ground for drinking. Lots of bars doesn't help either. Probably a really bad place to be if you have alcohol problems.

[save the frogs]

11 hours ago, cjinchiangrai said:

Proportional to the distance from Pattaya.

pattaya is designed to get you to drink 24/7

the place is like a casino and the dealer always wins.

 

if you have a proclivity for drink, pattya will exarcerbate it.

unless you have a good wife or gf. you will see some family guys with a thai wife and child in pattaya.

 

or you need to work and/or have a hobby. interestingly, there is a pattaya bar owner who runs a youtube channel and he doesn't drink. he understands that it interferes with making money I guess and that he probably would die very young being in a bar all the time if he was a drinker. which many bar owners have died young.

 

enough rambling from me.

 

[proton]

31 minutes ago, MarcelV said:

After a few years in the Muslim deep south of Thailand, I stopped drinking alcohol instead. In an environment where next to no one drinks, it's pretty easy not to feel tempted. There is no cannabis culture here either. Not that I would ever start using it in the first place.

 

Sounds like a right hoot down there then 😆