Thailand's Meth Menace

[meom]

Having lost both a business partner (farang) and personal relationship (Thai) to Meth, I have a deep hatred of the stuff, and I don't like having hate inside me. It's the most insideous(sp?) thing I've ever seen. Gently gently, gotcha, no going back. They'll promise you the moon and sky, but you're only talking to 50% of the person you knew, the other half is something very damaging to themselves and to all those associated. Avoid at all costs. I say this as someone who smokes legal cigarettes and over indulges in alcohol, but they're chalk and cheese.

I got to the point of keeping in my house Meth tests (from a friend in the business). Never got to use one of them, as they'll snake out of anything. Both of the above were very good people, fit, active, sociable, wonderful people to have around in my life. I paid heavily both emotionally and financially to be the 'do gooder'. If anyone reading this suspects the same, whether it be dirty yaa baa, or hi-so Ice, get them out of your life before they suck you into their world. There is no getting out of it when the 'authorities' are also the suppliers, and know who to target exactly, when and where.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your business partner and personal relationship. Your own experiences would certainly have shaped your personal views about the drug. Was it the crystal form (ice)?

It would be interesting to know what kind of drug education they had received before they had started taking methamphetamine. How much did they know about its harmfulness, particularly dependence? If after having studied all the scientific facts and statistics, would they have still started to take it and do it regularly?

Ofcourse they would.

Education would be their alibi to claim that they can control themselves.

Some can but most people learn to late that they actually can't.

[Joe Mamma]

Who is manufacturing it? And where are they getting the chemicals necessary. The core root of the problem is never addressed.

I am sure that the authorities know the big picture, but to just chip away at the surface will get nowhere.

[Joe Mamma]

Good luck BIB in ridding Thailand of this utter filth, apart from weed that is. Although I do not smoke it myself, or smoke anything for that matter, its still a bit like mentioning a can of shandy in a sentence alongside lao kao.

The filth are the traffickers/transporters, they don't care what they're delivering, meth, cannabis, whatever.

I don't understand the defence cannabis smoking gets (except when it's the dope-heads doing the defence). It's a real pain in the arse when I'm in my own condo and some bastard's dope smoke drifts into my place. If you want to support the use of cannabis please make sure nobody else has to smoke it 2nd hand.

Back in the states i lived in a condo that shared a vent with the upstairs neighbors. I would be inundated with the skunk smelling weed wafting in nightly.

And then the cooking smells started in earnest, By then i too, had the munchies and that food was Thai and phet smelling and it was more intoxicating than the bush was. I never rang them up, cause i enjoyed the skunky smelling food

They never invited me up,as they didn't trust anyone who doesn't smoke some dope.

[simple1]

This article is saying that each pill cost about $10 US?? That seems unlikely.

I can't understand why this wretched class of drug (amphetamine family) is so widespread and apparently popular in Thailand. Thailand pot used to be among the world's best ("Thai stick") but the stuff mostly available here now is garbage, not worth the money or the extreme legal consequences.

Or so I've heard.

No offense , but that's nonsense Frank , i have seen it being bought here for 50b a tab , was a few years ago though , and thaistick in isaan can be bought for about 300b an ounce, rough cut , which looks a huge amount at first sight , this was about 8 yrs ago tho , but @ thai price is cheap as chips , i expect its x 2 that by now , but compared to the stuff thats being grown all over the UK ATM its nowhere near as strong , not that im using it anymore , gettin too old now , but having said that , it's still not as dangerous to your health as the booze ! but all is fine in moderation IMO

Street price for Thais in Pattaya is now around 250 / 300 baht a tablet for YaBa

[Sayonarax]

Good luck BIB in ridding Thailand of this utter filth, apart from weed that is. Although I do not smoke it myself, or smoke anything for that matter, its still a bit like mentioning a can of shandy in a sentence alongside lao kao.

The filth are the traffickers/transporters, they don't care what they're delivering, meth, cannabis, whatever.

I don't understand the defence cannabis smoking gets (except when it's the dope-heads doing the defence). It's a real pain in the arse when I'm in my own condo and some bastard's dope smoke drifts into my place. If you want to support the use of cannabis please make sure nobody else has to smoke it 2nd hand.

Go home alco, no one wants to listen to you rant.

[Sayonarax]

What a load of crap! They were paid 100,000 baht to deliver? No way, 5000 baht a piece and the Hi-So bitches that arranged it get away Scot free!

Tends to be the idea behind drug mules.

[ABCer]

All other posts here are dismissed!

You are just plain envious!

Crime pays! Think of the renumeration and low working hours!

And you can be a user to boot! For free!

Just a bunch of guys green with envy...

[Shiver]

Having lost both a business partner (farang) and personal relationship (Thai) to Meth, I have a deep hatred of the stuff, and I don't like having hate inside me. It's the most insideous(sp?) thing I've ever seen. Gently gently, gotcha, no going back. They'll promise you the moon and sky, but you're only talking to 50% of the person you knew, the other half is something very damaging to themselves and to all those associated. Avoid at all costs. I say this as someone who smokes legal cigarettes and over indulges in alcohol, but they're chalk and cheese.

I got to the point of keeping in my house Meth tests (from a friend in the business). Never got to use one of them, as they'll snake out of anything. Both of the above were very good people, fit, active, sociable, wonderful people to have around in my life. I paid heavily both emotionally and financially to be the 'do gooder'. If anyone reading this suspects the same, whether it be dirty yaa baa, or hi-so Ice, get them out of your life before they suck you into their world. There is no getting out of it when the 'authorities' are also the suppliers, and know who to target exactly, when and where.

Sorry to hear about the loss of your business partner and personal relationship. Your own experiences would certainly have shaped your personal views about the drug. Was it the crystal form (ice)?

It would be interesting to know what kind of drug education they had received before they had started taking methamphetamine. How much did they know about its harmfulness, particularly dependence? If after having studied all the scientific facts and statistics, would they have still started to take it and do it regularly?

The gf at the time had tried Yaa Baa many years before with her then Thai bf, and said she didn't like it. On a holiday with me a local neighbour introduced both her (Thai) and my business partner (Aussie) the Ice. The way they took to it was different. The GF thought is was 'fun' and started hanging out in night clubs with other users of the stuff, and despite having a good 'salary' from me as a 'sponsor' she managed to not pay the motorbike, my bills, or even send money to her family. It was me who went to the funeral of her father I'd never met because she'd been incarcerated (he died just 2 days before she was released). It was me who paid the money to get the lawyers to show the police had taken bribes. For the Aussie partner, he claimed it was my lack of devotion to the company that meant he 'had' to take it in order to cover my failures (which also included him sleeping for 30 hours+ to recover every several days - this is still ongoing as far as I'm aware). He's hardcore now and no going back. She went back to the old routine and got pulled again, and will probably do 8-20 years when her trial is due. I wash my hands. My guess is it put 3 years on her appearance within a couple of months. The Aussie ex-business partner I haven't seen, but reports sound grim.

I can understand that a farang can be a bufflalo, but if this stuff is more important than family, losing a father (grief, the family say), car, 2 bikes, salary, several rai of land and security for life, just for a hit to get 'up to normal' you know it's not good stuff. I don't have any special skills in chemistry (self taught), but do run a business for reversing cancer/heart disease and other ailments. I know a way that from a receptor point of view will get someone off any kind of addiction, but it's moot, because if the person doesn't want to, there's no point in even mentioning it to them.

I am extremely biased when it comes to Ice. At least with Heroin you only live in pure hell for a week getting off it. With Meth, it's too subtle to notice on yourself, but everyone else does.

I'd rather have a partner that was alcoholic/cocaine head than Meth. Actually I'd like a gf that didn't mind the odd drink and occasional ganja (legalities aside - no room for that here as a farang). I stay alone now. At least if I'm the one doing the lying to myself it doesn't hurt other people.

[hyperdimension]

Thank you for sharing your story, Shiver.

Could there have been any way to prevent these people from falling into the trap of crystal meth addiction?

If I was in the situation that you were in and they were insistent on taking something for partying, I would have suggested MDMA as a far safer alternative, citing the scientific studies that I have previously mentioned. I would have also suggested the use of Marquis Reagent test kit to ensure that whatever they bought as MDMA actually contained MDMA (or something similar like MDA or MDEA) and wasn't just methamphetamine (Ya Baa). MDMA, as enjoyable as it is in a party environment, is nowhere near as addictive or harmful as either methamphetamine (crystal or not) or cocaine, which is why it ranks much lower than those and other drugs on the harm scale.

I actually don't think you'd want a partner that was a cocaine addict either, as there are other stories a little like yours but with cocaine instead of methaphetamine.

Edited May 16, 2013 by hyperdimension

[Shiver]

Thank you for sharing your story, Shiver.

Could there have been any way to prevent these people from falling into the trap of crystal meth addiction?

If I was in the situation that you were in and they were insistent on taking something for partying, I would have suggested MDMA as a far safer alternative, citing the scientific studies that I have previously mentioned. I would have also suggested the use of Marquis Reagent test kit to ensure that whatever they bought as MDMA actually contained MDMA (or something similar like MDA or MDEA) and wasn't just methamphetamine (Ya Baa). MDMA, as enjoyable as it is in a party environment, is nowhere near as addictive or harmful as either methamphetamine (crystal or not) or cocaine, which is why it ranks much lower than those and other drugs on the harm scale.

I actually don't think you'd want a partner that was a cocaine addict either, as there are other stories a little like yours but with cocaine instead of methaphetamine.

I guess I was exaggerating when mentioning cocaine. I've only ever encountered users of it in pubs etc in UK, and never tried it (I was scared I might like it, and with having enough vices already, and at that time enough money to really party hard to personal destruction). I've tried quite a lot of the things on the erowid website before ever coming to Thailand (always looking for a nice clean relaxant alternative to beer - never found one). I tried the nootropics and hated it. I read it makes you smarter, but the experience I had was I felt completely normal and everyone in the world went more stupid, so that experiment didn't last long.

I did try Crystal Methamphetaime once (aka Ice), just so I could walk the walk when talking about it and lecturing people to boredom. To me it was like a mild amphetamine rush, but softer and smoother, and with a hint of hugginess/empathy, but with a limp unit that no amount of prescription tablets could arouse. I looked in the mirror and saw my pupils bigger than a melon and instantly became too paranoid to even visit 711. I didn't need a second visit. One and done. That was before all the above issues I wrote about with ex-partners.

[meom]

Yes it redefines foreplay which lasts a lot longer.

It's mostly in your head though and with proper stimulation you'll get hard eventually and stay hard for like forever which explains it's party popularity.

Pretty addictive though.

[rucus7]

The real question in my mind is about supply and demand. There is obviously a great demand hence the increased supply. Why is there such a great demand. Are people without hope? What causes the desire to change ones perceptions with extreme stimulants? Are the majority recreational users? I can't believe any drug is that addictive, once and you're hooked.

Are you aware that nicotine is more addictive than cocaine.

Only heroine would be more addictive.

Meth is somewhere in-between...

Well aware, I smoked for 20 years. I quit 27 years ago. tough to kick. Don't know about about heroine.

[rucus7]

The real question in my mind is about supply and demand. There is obviously a great demand hence the increased supply. Why is there such a great demand. Are people without hope? What causes the desire to change ones perceptions with extreme stimulants? Are the majority recreational users? I can't believe any drug is that addictive, once and you're hooked.

Most kids here do not have a father around....

They think this drug is a nice compromise.

But the drug fries the brain,

And then they steal to get more...

Check out the documentary:

''The most dangerous drug''

I doubt if a Father in the household has much if anything to do with the increasing demand for Methamphetamine. I am not not clear if you are suggesting Meth replaces a parent or what? Have you ever worked on an assembly line in a factory? that is were the demand begins. Also inherent in human nature is a curiosity to change perceptions. Look at alcoholic beverages, caffeine and nicotine. As well as prescription drug abuse.