Meth pills worth 200 million baht seized in Chiang Rai

[Thorgal]

what did the manufacturers lose by the confiscation? What was their cost? I'd like to see the manufacturers losing out big time.

As methamphetamine is so cheap and easy to make, I don't think they would have lost out "big time". Maybe their loss would be similar to you losing 1000 baht. Whatever losses they made, it would probably all be covered (plus many times over) after the next batch successfully goes through soon.

Easy to make ?

The chemicals and ingredients used to make the recipe for crystal meth, methamphetamine or tik at home are unstable. Those cooking or making homemade crystal meth or tik at home, especially those just learning how to make the home recipe for crystal meth are at a high risk of deadly explosions from the combination of homemade ingredients used in the cooking process.

The core ingredients are quiet easy and cheap to get...

Ingredients from brake fluid are used in the recipe for meth

Lithium, an ingredient in battery acid is found in meth

Hydrochloride is a methamphetamine recipe ingredient

Methamphetamine uses ingredients from lighter fluid

Iodine ephedrine is used to make methamphetamine

Ingredients taken from isopropyl rubbing alcohol

Ingredients from drain cleaner is used in the meth recipe

Ingredients from sudaphedrine or sudaphed

Additives and ingredients from gasoline are used in the homemade meth recipe

Homemade crystal meth uses ingredients from paint thinner

Ether is used in the recipe to make homemade meth

Freon, an ingredient from camp stove fuel

The recipe includes ingredients from white gasoline ammonia

Red phosphorus lye is used when making the home recipe methamphetamine

[Seastallion]

So 2 million baht for 1 million pills. Are the pills really 2 baht each?

Another aspect....if the pills are worth 2 million (I assume street value) what did the manufacturers lose by the confiscation? What was their cost?

I'd like to see the manufacturers losing out big time.

Uh, the article said 200 Million.

Lol, my bad. Thanks.

[surangw]

the more sophisticated smugglers have been using remote controlled model planes to get their product inland

[Chris Lawrence]

The general in Myanmar will just make more?

[englishoak]

200m baht my ass, this stuff isnt 200 bht per pill, unfortunately this poison is a lot less.

Just another day along the border.

[ClutchClark]

200m baht my ass, this stuff isnt 200 bht per pill, unfortunately this poison is a lot less.

Just another day along the border.

The street value might be exaggerated but the sheer quantities of pills entering this country makes me wonder just how many consumers there must be. How many of the people we come in contact with daily must be high or stoned?

Absolutely amazing to me.

[hyperdimension]

200m baht my ass, this stuff isnt 200 bht per pill, unfortunately this poison is a lot less.

Just another day along the border.

The street value might be exaggerated but the sheer quantities of pills entering this country makes me wonder just how many consumers there must be. How many of the people we come in contact with daily must be high or stoned?

Absolutely amazing to me.

Yes it is a massive consumer base, but we will hardly ever hear about them because users don't want to admit to engaging in illegal activity (including mere possession). The majority of methamphetamine consumers probably don't have a problem with it, just as the majority of alcohol and tobacco consumers don't have a problem with those drugs. The public only ever hear about methamphetamine consumers when there are big problematic incidents, such as death from overdose or a user becomes psychotic and/or violent or causes an accident. This then causes the public to perceive methamphetamine as an extremely dangerous drug, when the reality is not as extreme as what they perceive. It's similar for other illegal drugs too, such as MDMA (which is much less harmful than methamphetamine). Here are some quotes from Ecstasy use doubles in five years:

Globally, the number of people who consume ecstasy has soared to eight million

The National Criminal Intelligence Service estimates 500,000 to two million ecstasy tablets are consumed each week in Britain.

[ClutchClark]

200m baht my ass, this stuff isnt 200 bht per pill, unfortunately this poison is a lot less.

Just another day along the border.

The street value might be exaggerated but the sheer quantities of pills entering this country makes me wonder just how many consumers there must be. How many of the people we come in contact with daily must be high or stoned?

Absolutely amazing to me.

Yes it is a massive consumer base, but we will hardly ever hear about them because users don't want to admit to engaging in illegal activity (including mere possession). The majority of methamphetamine consumers probably don't have a problem with it, just as the majority of alcohol and tobacco consumers don't have a problem with those drugs. The public only ever hear about methamphetamine consumers when there are big problematic incidents, such as death from overdose or a user becomes psychotic and/or violent or causes an accident. This then causes the public to perceive methamphetamine as an extremely dangerous drug, when the reality is not as extreme as what they perceive. It's similar for other illegal drugs too, such as MDMA (which is much less harmful than methamphetamine). Here are some quotes from Ecstasy use doubles in five years:

Globally, the number of people who consume ecstasy has soared to eight million

The National Criminal Intelligence Service estimates 500,000 to two million ecstasy tablets are consumed each week in Britain.

The pills described in this article are "Meth". Is this the same as "Crystal Meth"? I have heard there is really no such thing as a recreational user that can "maintain" normalcy with that drug and it destroys the surface of a person's teeth and users typically have very rotted teeth.

I recall Ecstasy being around in the 80's back in the era of "Designer Drugs". It actually had psycho-pharmacological purposes, right?

[hyperdimension]

The pills described in this article are "Meth". Is this the same as "Crystal Meth"?

"Crystal Meth" is short for "crystalline methamphetamine". Since it's in pure crystal form, it doesn't come in pill form. Ordinary street "Meth" comes mixed with filler material (e.g. calcium phosphate), and can be in pill form or powder. "Crystal Meth" is called so in order to distringuish it from ordinary street "Meth". It's a bit like the new name for pure crystalline MDMA, "Molly" (short for "molecule" or "molecular" MDMA), which is used to distinguish it from MDMA pills.

I have heard there is really no such thing as a recreational user that can "maintain" normalcy with that drug and it destroys the surface of a person's teeth and users typically have very rotted teeth.

There is still a lot of scare-mongering anti-recreational-drug propaganda around, especially in the mass media, and those statements fit into such a category.

I recall Ecstasy being around in the 80's back in the era of "Designer Drugs". It actually had psycho-pharmacological purposes, right?

Yes. See this thread and my subsequent reply about Alexander Shulgin, the scientist who rediscovered MDMA which led to its use in the psychotherapy community and then the nightclubbing / electronic dance music and modern "hippie" communities: Alexander Shulgin, 'Godfather of ecstasy', dies aged 88.

[hyperdimension]

Here's a video that shows what the methamphetamine experience is like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm60C0Q6RqU

It's nowhere near as euphoric as MDMA, but can be great to dance to fast music. The guy mentions how great maethamphetamine would be at a "terror party", by which he means a "rave" music event where they play "hardcore" (or "gabber") techno, which is very fast, banging, repetitive and often dark and aggressive in feeling. I agree that methamphetamine fits very well with such music. MDMA on the other hand, due to it's more spiritual and intensely mood-elevating euphoria, fits perfectly with uplifting melodic music, particularly "happy hardcore" and uplifting trance. Often rave events have different rooms or arenas, and you can often see the "speedfreaks" mostly in the hardcore room.

[Ulysses G.]

The pills described in this article are "Meth". Is this the same as "Crystal Meth"? I have heard there is really no such thing as a recreational user

Sorry, but that is just false propaganda. I have known lots of recreational users that never became addicted. I was one of them in my youth and I took plenty of Crystal Meth.

I pretty much gave it up after using it frequently for a year or so as the longer you use it, the more the negative effects start to affect you. However, I continued to take it every once in a while for the next 10 years with few ill effects, until I gave up drugs completely.

[JohnThailandJohn]

200m baht my ass, this stuff isnt 200 bht per pill, unfortunately this poison is a lot less.

Just another day along the border.

Actually the 200 is a bit outdated, they go for about 300 baht a pill on the street now ... at least in Bangkok. Prices rise each year due to crack down. They are cheaper near the border where they cross but the 200 baht priced mentioned is very realistic and fair estimate and possibly a bit low.

http://www.havocscope.com/cost-to-buy-yaba-in-thailand/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ya_ba#Rise_and_fall_in_popularity_in_Thailand

Edited June 6, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[ClutchClark]

The pills described in this article are "Meth". Is this the same as "Crystal Meth"? I have heard there is really no such thing as a recreational user

Sorry, but that is just false propaganda. I have known lots of recreational users that never became addicted. I was one of them in my youth and I took plenty of Crystal Meth.

I pretty much gave it up after using it frequently for a year or so as the longer you use it, the more the negative effects start to affect you. However, I continued to take it every once in a while for the next 10 years with few ill effects, until I gave up drugs completely.

UG, too funny. Now I see why you & I never agree about anything here on TV--you were a user of a heavy duty illegal drug for a decade.

But then I have heard this is the hillbilly drug of choice...atleast until Oxy came along ;-)

Good to learn you were able to quit.

[partington]

The pills described in this article are "Meth". Is this the same as "Crystal Meth"? I have heard there is really no such thing as a recreational user

Sorry, but that is just false propaganda. I have known lots of recreational users that never became addicted. I was one of them in my youth and I took plenty of Crystal Meth.

I pretty much gave it up after using it frequently for a year or so as the longer you use it, the more the negative effects start to affect you. However, I continued to take it every once in a while for the next 10 years with few ill effects, until I gave up drugs completely.

UG, too funny. Now I see why you & I never agree about anything here on TV--you were a user of a heavy duty illegal drug for a decade.

But then I have heard this is the hillbilly drug of choice...atleast until Oxy came along ;-)

Good to learn you were able to quit.

The opinion of someone who knows what they are talking about is always more valuable than that of someone who doesn't!

[ClutchClark]

Sorry, but that is just false propaganda. I have known lots of recreational users that never became addicted. I was one of them in my youth and I took plenty of Crystal Meth.

I pretty much gave it up after using it frequently for a year or so as the longer you use it, the more the negative effects start to affect you. However, I continued to take it every once in a while for the next 10 years with few ill effects, until I gave up drugs completely.

UG, too funny. Now I see why you & I never agree about anything here on TV--you were a user of a heavy duty illegal drug for a decade.

But then I have heard this is the hillbilly drug of choice...atleast until Oxy came along ;-)

Good to learn you were able to quit.

The opinion of someone who knows what they are talking about is always more valuable than that of someone who doesn't!

Thoroughly agree; however, I choose to listen to the group that also "knows what they are talking about" the doctors and hospital staff and law enforcement officers that see the negative consequences of this drug use on a society daily rather than a drug abuser.

But more power to ya ;-)