Is this medication available with a Thai prescription from any hospital or clinic in Thailand? I have a prescription in my home country and would like a prescription from a Thai physician if I move to Thailand. I've lived and worked in Thailand for many years in the past, but about 10 years ago I experienced a wretched life experience (in my home country after leaving Thailand) and have been prescribed Temazepam 30 mg for sleep. I don't take it every night, roughly 2 - 3 nights/week. I know that zolpidem is available from various clinics and hospitals in Thailand with a Thai prescription, but sometimes it's not strong enough for me.

Thank you in advance for any and all replies!

Edited August 11Aug 11 by Jungle Chicken

Perhaps it’s available in Cambodia

7 minutes ago, Microwave said:

Perhaps it’s available in Cambodia

Strange reply.

11 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

Strange reply

Edited August 11Aug 11 by Jungle Chicken
Wrong words

24 minutes ago, couchpotato said:

Strange reply.

I meant to say thank you for your reply.

Let me rephrase my reply. If it’s not available in Thailand, then try Cambodia where some medications are available that aren’t available in Thailand. Stilnox, the Cambodian brand of zolpidem, is available OTC in Cambodia.

13 minutes ago, Microwave said:

Let me rephrase my reply. If it’s not available in Thailand, then try Cambodia where some medications are available that aren’t available in Thailand. Stilnox, the Cambodian brand of zolpidem, is available OTC in Cambodia.

Thank you

3 hours ago, Microwave said:

Let me rephrase my reply. If it’s not available in Thailand, then try Cambodia where some medications are available that aren’t available in Thailand. Stilnox, the Cambodian brand of zolpidem, is available OTC in Cambodia.

And for other great ideas on how to get arrested by Thai customs for importation (smuggling) of controlled drugs and get deported, go too:

"Microwave"

Edited August 11Aug 11 by SmellyArmpit

4 hours ago, Jungle Chicken said:

Is this medication available with a Thai prescription from any hospital or clinic in Thailand? I have a prescription in my home country and would like a prescription from a Thai physician if I move to Thailand. I've lived and worked in Thailand for many years in the past, but about 10 years ago I experienced a wretched life experience (in my home country after leaving Thailand) and have been prescribed Temazepam 30 mg for sleep. I don't take it every night, roughly 2 - 3 nights/week. I know that zolpidem is available from various clinics and hospitals in Thailand with a Thai prescription, but sometimes it's not strong enough for me.

Thank you in advance for any and all replies!

In 2026, Temazepam remains a controlled substance in Thailand, making it illegal for travelers to possess or use without a prescription from a Thai physician. This is crucial for anyone planning to visit the country who relies on this medication for sleep disorders or anxiety. Understanding Thailand’s strict drug laws is essential to avoid severe penalties, including heavy fines and imprisonment. Travelers should seek legal advice and verify their medications before their journey.

I think anything that acts on the central nervous system is a controlled substance (if that's the correct term).

Powerful stuff.

I fracture my right arm in six places playing football and after getting it set in hospital I was sent home......with no pain killers....it hurt.

Saw my GP the next day and he gave me one temazepam and I slept for 15 hours straight.

Alprazolam (Xanax) and temazepam (Restoril) are benzodiazepines. Zolpidem (Ambien) is a non-benzodiazepine.

Alprazolam (0.5mg) is definitely available from some drug stores in Thailand without a prescription.

I think made in Thailand as some Thai script on the strips, and the tablets tend to crumble if trying to break for a half dose.

I don’t know if any of the above meds are available on prescription in Thailand.

My two experiences with Thai doctors was that I was prescribed Ativan (generic name: lorazepam). This was in conjunction with other prescribed medications.

This is also a benzodiazepine and comes as a tiny 1mg tablet.

Thank you for the replies!

There is no brand if temazopam registered in Thailsnd.

There are chemically related drugs available. These are benzodiazopines, highly addictive and strictky controlled. Can only be obtained from a hospural or clinic.

I still remember being sold Temazepam OTC in Thailand in 1996. I was buying Captagon (OTC as well of course) and they suggested I bought Temazepam together with the Captagon. I didn't know people were abusing both together, the Temazepam cutting the speedy edge of the Captagon so that what you felt was pure euphoria.

The Temazepam jelly capsules they sold were absurdly high doses. You took one and dropped within 5 minutes, only to awaken 10 hours later without any memories of what happened.

Amphetamines and benzos sold like chewing gum, those were the days!

Thank you for the replies!

On 8/11/2026 at 12:24 PM, SmellyArmpit said:

And for other great ideas on how to get arrested by Thai customs for importation (smuggling) of controlled drugs and get deported, go too:

"Microwave"

According to Thai MIMS, temazepam is available in Thailand. I'm sure you know all benzos are hugely addictive, very hard to drop and 30mg is a heroic dose! No moral judgment. I've been playing with alprazolam for sleep for three decades.

If you're being honest and really only taking temazepam PRN (as needed) two or three times a week, good chance you drew the brass ring and are not addicted. Get out of jail free.

Although some posters here have said there are pharmacies that sell benzos under the counter, I've been here 37 years and never found one.

I used to bring a year's worth of alprazolam on doc's prescription from Canada. If your doc will agree, I'd try that first. The only Customs problem is when sending them by post.

All benzos and Z-drugs are tightly controlled here. 30 days, 30 tablets. To avoid endless doc visits, many docs here will say you're taking 90mg/day, thus giving you a three-month supply. Warning: there are many docs who absolutely want nothing to do with benzos so getting a cooperative doc is Russian roulette.

My suggestion would be to go to a large, public hospital near you and make an appt with Psychiatry. (Don't worry, you're not crazy!) This is a process. You may get a young (probably cute, too) resident who has been told benzos are the devil. As her for her referral to an Ajarn (professor). Explain your position precisely, don't hide anything to have the best chance of success. You'll win this, don't stress!

I was taking 1mg alprazolam every night for 6 years. Due to my age, doc thought it should be reduced. He suggested a most unconventional practice. I ground down the tablet three strokes on a metal nailfile for a month, then six strokes aso. Now I'm at 0.5mg.

30mg is really too much. You should try to get that down to 15mg and eventually 7.5mg depending on your sleep. Just a little scrape every night. Once you get settled of course.

Suggested hospitals: Chulalongkorn, Sirirat, Ramatibodhi, Rajvithi. All these are teaching hospitals with lotsa docs.

Good luck! Happy to guide you through!

15 hours ago, Sheryl said:

There is no brand if temazopam registered in Thailsnd.

There are chemically related drugs available. These are benzodiazopines, highly addictive and strictky controlled. Can only be obtained from a hospural or clinic.

Sheryl, if temazepam is not registered in Thailand, why is it listed in MIMS? Euhypnos ATC N05CD07 Thai info page: https://pharmacy.mahidol.ac.th/dic/qa_full.php?id=164. I could not find what dosages are available here.

His is a big dose with a short half-life. I've never done this personally but switching to another benzo isn't so easy. It's not just about equivalency.

Tell me what you think about my very unscientific method for reduction!

Good to see you got the Alprazolam 1mg, down to 0.5mg.

On the rare occasions I take 0.25mg (I break 0.5mg in half) , I need to take early evening as I find it leaves me a touch groggy next morning. Kind of puts me off taking Alprazolam; much prefer Ativan that I had access to for many years before access became very restricted.

My GP in Australia would prescribe a box of 50 (1mg) and then ask if that was enough. It was, as again, I would break them in half.

BTW Alprazolam was available in Hua Hin at a very reasonable price, available in Pattaya at an exorbitant price, and available in Bangkok as counterfeit – obviously so, with tablets being spooned out of large jar.

Agree with you - 30mg Temazepam seems like a large dose; I think I was prescribed 10mg just one time. I requested Ativan, but no longer being prescribed due to its half life, and being considered more addictive.

1 hour ago, John49 said:

Good to see you got the Alprazolam 1mg, down to 0.5mg.

On the rare occasions I take 0.25mg (I break 0.5mg in half) , I need to take early evening as I find it leaves me a touch groggy next morning. Kind of puts me off taking Alprazolam; much prefer Ativan that I had access to for many years before access became very restricted.

My GP in Australia would prescribe a box of 50 (1mg) and then ask if that was enough. It was, as again, I would break them in half.

BTW Alprazolam was available in Hua Hin at a very reasonable price, available in Pattaya at an exorbitant price, and available in Bangkok as counterfeit – obviously so, with tablets being spooned out of large jar.

Agree with you - 30mg Temazepam seems like a large dose; I think I was prescribed 10mg just one time. I requested Ativan, but no longer being prescribed due to its half life, and being considered more addictive.

My friend, all benzos are hugely addictive! I'm not sure if they're available here but the sublingual lorazepam is very effective.

Never groggy with alprazolam taken just before lights out. But perhaps I am too accustomed to expectation of the effects. I cannot go to sleep without it, likely due to addiction.

Have you experimented with a lower dose of temazepam coupled with, say, 25mg trazodone or melatonin? Please keep it to two-three times a week.

Thank you for the many helpful and spirited replies! I'm quite aware of the addiction potential of benzos and I am being honest when I say (type?) that I'm taking the temazepam 30 mg 2 -3 nights per week. After I was initially prescribed the temazepam I took it more frequently (4 - 5 nights per week), read about the addiction potential, and lowered the frequency to 2 - 3 nights per week. I've tried the 7.5 mg dose and the 15 mg dose, but only the 30 mg dose provides the relief I need.

It really does help me, whereas other sleeping medications sometimes help and sometimes don't. I'm certain that I'm not physically addicted to this medication as I've gone as long as 2 months without temazepam and had no withdrawal issues. Then something would happen that reminded me of why I was having trouble sleeping and I would use a temazepam 30 mg capsule again, providing the relief that I needed. Ideally I won't need the temazepam after moving to Thailand due to the much more laid-back culture and people, but again that's ideally. My Thai remains fluent and I have a multitude of Thai friends (I've never really known many farangs in Thailand) so I'm more interested in living in rural Thailand and getting on with life, putting the events of 10 years ago in the past. I haven't contacted my Thai friends about the possibility of obtaining temazepam in Thailand as they likely wouldn't know. Few people, Thai or farang, would be able to relate to my rather unique experience which led me to being prescribed the temazepam in the first place.

My query was whether or not temazepam 30 mg would be possible to obtain in Thailand as I didn't need it when I had lived in Thailand previously. Sounds like it's not available at all, so I may have to rethink moving to Thailand permanently. Perhaps a few months in Thailand and a few months in my home country would be the best plan.

Many thanks once again for all of the replies!

9 hours ago, unblocktheplanet said:

Sheryl, if temazepam is not registered in Thailand, why is it listed in MIMS? Euhypnos ATC N05CD07 Thai info page: https://pharmacy.mahidol.ac.th/dic/qa_full.php?id=164. I could not find what dosages are available here.

His is a big dose with a short half-life. I've never done this personally but switching to another benzo isn't so easy. It's not just about equivalency.

Tell me what you think about my very unscientific method for reduction!

You are right, I missed the listing of Euhypnos.

indeed his dose is quite large and switch to any other benzo should be medically supervised.

Chick, no matter where you are, you are there. Life is not magically not-stressful in Thailand. Rather, there are different stressors.

Knowing Thai definitely makes life less stressful!

You sound responsible with using temazapam. As you can see, it is, indeed, available here.

Thank you once again for the replies! I've always been quite responsible with my consumption of temazepam and am aiming to kick it out of my life entirely. I'm actually averaging one pill per week now. But the fact is it's been helpful in the past and even now, especially when something comes up such as weddings, funerals, get togethers, etc. where I have to see what seems like the entire planet all at once. At stressful times like these I'm extremely thankful to have the temazepam so that I can function the next day.

I had a virtual appointment with a doctor at Bumrungrad 2 weeks ago. His English wasn't very good so he was quite surprised and pleased when I spoke to him in Thai (to say the least!). Our conversation was only in Thai and he said that temazepam isn't available in Thailand and that I could obtain a prescription for something different that would help. I'm not interested in trying anything else (he suggested Ativan) and I was simply curious what people on aseannow had to say about the availability of temazepam in Thailand.

Thank you again for the concerns and suggestions!

Damn, I've just had a doc's appt where I could have asked about availability. I'll see what I can do. Meanwhile, grab as many as you can from cooperative docs where you are. I'm sure most will be sympathetic to your situation.

You mention crowds. For me, it was the night before I had a big lecture or presentation at university, often with a thousand people. Shopping malls? Fuhgeddabout it!

Keep us posted. We're on your side!

Thank you for thinking of me. I'm leaning towards spending just a few months in Thailand instead of moving back to the LOS permanently. Best wishes!