Drug Test on Koh Tao and Koh Pangan ? Is it usual ?

[mrfaroukh]

I hope they do it more often to take away all the criminals from the street.

[PoorSucker]

If that's true, then maybe Thailand really is heading towards being more like North Korea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/marijuana-in-north-korea_n_4067341.html

[motorsaimang]

Does anyone know what tests they use? I've heard of saliva, urine and blood now :/

[DoctorB]

Does this pee test shows marihuana too?

Yes.

Marijuana use can be detected up to 2-5 days after exposure for infrequent users; For heavy users: 1-15 days; For chronic users and/or users with high body fat: 1-30 days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_drug_testing

Not quite true, the poster said, "this pee test".

The tests are drug specific and marijuana and amphetamine require a totally different test.

The costs of carrying a multi-drug testing range would be too expensive, and the hassle of trying to divide and keep track of different samples for different tests in a public place too complicated to be realistic. Of course if they take you to the police station then it's a different story.

In practice, since amphetamine is regarded as they key issue it is the only drug likely to be tested for on a random basis.

[motorsaimang]

I hope they do it more often to take away all the criminals from the street.

Essentially you're a "criminal" if you're prescribed cannabis at home for your late stage cancer or dexamphetamine for your adhd and then you test positive once you arrive in Thailand.

I hope you get a false positive from a regime that I'm sure has plenty of weak spots

[Pinothippy]

Does this pee test shows marihuana too?

Yes.

Marijuana use can be detected up to 2-5 days after exposure for infrequent users; For heavy users: 1-15 days; For chronic users and/or users with high body fat: 1-30 days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_drug_testing

Not quite true, the poster said, "this pee test".

The tests are drug specific and marijuana and amphetamine require a totally different test.

The costs of carrying a multi-drug testing range would be too expensive, and the hassle of trying to divide and keep track of different samples for different tests in a public place too complicated to be realistic. Of course if they take you to the police station then it's a different story.

In practice, since amphetamine is regarded as they key issue it is the only drug likely to be tested for on a random basis.

The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth.

[waynethor]

If that's true, then maybe Thailand really is heading towards being more like North Korea.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/marijuana-in-north-korea_n_4067341.html

Thanks for the link. I never would have imagined that marijuana is basically legal In North Korea.

I was talking more about the idea of the military and police randomly coming into people's homes to test them for drugs without reason or suspicion. It's that level of aggressive policing that should scare people. Anybody who applauds this type of action, should really think hard about the need to preserve human rights. The US government managed to throw their constitution and people's basic rights out the window when they enacted the Patriot Act (that name gives me the creeps, BTW). But that was done by deception, and the US public swallowed it hook, line and sinker, convinced that if they didn't give up their basic rights, terrorists would invade the country and kill them all. If it became general policy in the US for the police and military to start methodically searching people's homes and testing them for drug use without probable cause, there would and should be an uproar.

[squarethecircle]

"The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth."

But do they care about the pot? Friend who owns a construction company in US gets all new workers tested and does periodic tests. It tests for pot but he does not care about this; speed is what he is concerned about and I would do it too if I had a similar business.

[DoctorB]

Reports from a friend (yes actually a friend I have never been to Patts or subjected to such testing), may not help or be relevant:

RTP in Pattaya were performing random roadside blood checks on f-rangs. They were looking for yabba usage which admittedly is a scourge (albeit allegedly rampant in Thai society). Positive tests for yabba resulted in 50,000 baht on-the-spot fine or arrest, positive tests for cannabis were let go. Most police in Thailand will not care about the latter if simple personal usage as there are bigger problems, but a place like Koh Tao which is known as a "hippy hangout" will probably attract police looking to make a buck. If you're dressed like a hippy or "rasta" as your name suggests I would take caution as it is likely you would be targeted by such police, it is illegal to have any scheduled compounds inside your system inside of Thailand and as noted fully legal to test urine or blood for this without probable cause.

I've not known any farangs tested for ya-ba etc at road blocks in Pattaya yet, but what they are now doing is random breathalyser tests for alcohol.

A friend got done a few days ago. The test limit is 60 units (not sure what, maybe mgs per ml); he was just over at 65 and got off by paying 3,000 baht. Others who were well over were being hauled off for more drastic treatment. Be warned.

Hopefully, it looks as if a night on the ale and then home on the motorbike will soon be a thing of the past.

[Pinothippy]

"The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth."

But do they care about the pot? Friend who owns a construction company in US gets all new workers tested and does periodic tests. It tests for pot but he does not care about this; speed is what he is concerned about and I would do it too if I had a similar business.

Any positive result will result in you being fired. Safety is a big issue in the mines. Pot is one of the main things they are testing for in the mining industry. If the police are urine testing in LOS then you can bet it's a multi substance test. They may indeed not care about pot but i would not be risking it.

[DoctorB]

"The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth."

But do they care about the pot? Friend who owns a construction company in US gets all new workers tested and does periodic tests. It tests for pot but he does not care about this; speed is what he is concerned about and I would do it too if I had a similar business.

Any positive result will result in you being fired. Safety is a big issue in the mines. Pot is one of the main things they are testing for in the mining industry. If the police are urine testing in LOS then you can bet it's a multi substance test. They may indeed not care about pot but i would not be risking it.

Sorry, but there is no such thing as a multi substance test. It has to be multiple tests on separate samples.

The mining industry has much more to lose from drug abuse and far more time and resources at its disposal to make sure it doesn't happen.

Think about this; the Thai police descend on a disco with several hundred customers; how many could they process if they are separating out mutiple samples and applying different test? And would it be cost effective? They have to prioritise and whacky baccy is not going to be top of their list.

I've been in a Pattaya bar when the pee volunteers rushed in. Only Thais had to give a sample; we farangs were simply ignored. It was a quick spurt of some chemical into each sample immediately it was handed over, which turned purple if someone had been naughty. The only marijuana test I've ever seen involved dropping a very small, measured amount of urine onto a test strip and allowing a certain amount of time to elapse for a coloured strip to develop or not; quite a bit more difficult to handle with an angry crowd behind you desperate to get away.

I'm not trying to encourage drug use; just trying to inject some reality here.

[Pinothippy]

"The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth."

But do they care about the pot? Friend who owns a construction company in US gets all new workers tested and does periodic tests. It tests for pot but he does not care about this; speed is what he is concerned about and I would do it too if I had a similar business.

Any positive result will result in you being fired. Safety is a big issue in the mines. Pot is one of the main things they are testing for in the mining industry. If the police are urine testing in LOS then you can bet it's a multi substance test. They may indeed not care about pot but i would not be risking it.

Sorry, but there is no such thing as a multi substance test. It has to be multiple tests on separate samples.

The mining industry has much more to lose from drug abuse and far more time and resources at its disposal to make sure it doesn't happen.

Think about this; the Thai police descend on a disco with several hundred customers; how many could they process if they are separating out mutiple samples and applying different test? And would it be cost effective? They have to prioritise and whacky baccy is not going to be top of their list.

I've been in a Pattaya bar when the pee volunteers rushed in. Only Thais had to give a sample; we farangs were simply ignored. It was a quick spurt of some chemical into each sample immediately it was handed over, which turned purple if someone had been naughty. The only marijuana test I've ever seen involved dropping a very small, measured amount of urine onto a test strip and allowing a certain amount of time to elapse for a coloured strip to develop or not; quite a bit more difficult to handle with an angry crowd behind you desperate to get away.

I'm not trying to encourage drug use; just trying to inject some reality here.

Sorry but you are not correct. Multi drug urine tests are quite common.Here is a couple of different ones.

http://www.drug-testing.com.au/6-drug-urine-test/

http://www.drug-testing.com.au/drugsure-1/

Edited August 29, 2014 by Pinothippy

[smileplur]

Let me inject some of my own reality. I have seen a test (a stick dipped into a urine sample) that tested for several substances at once. There were several "windows" on the stick that would change color to show a positive result for each substance. I believe there were 5 substance "windows" on the stick. That was 15 years ago or so. I would imagine they have gotten a bit better and developed more sophisticated, cheaper test equipment. Of course, it would be cheapest to buy test kits that tested for only one substance, i.e. methamphetamine.

[connda]

I meant to ask "... What do they test for, specifically?

They test mostly for Meth and XTC. I don't know how sophisticated their kits are but they don't seem too concerned with cocaine and heroin because they are way out of the price range of most Thais but along with grass they will get you a very hefty fine. Meth is automatic jail.

Pretty simplistic solution to the problem: arrest and jail all users. They better start building more prisons. The 'War on Drugs' is unwinnable. Education and mandatory treatment would be a better option to destroying a sub-segment of Thai society that use methaphedimes by tossing them in jail for 'using'. And then make a concerted effort to stop the supply at the source. There ain't no stopping it, but supply and demand will dictate price -- stop enough and a large segment of society won't be able to afford it.

Edited August 29, 2014 by connda

[Pinothippy]

So has anyone else been tested? If this was really happening i would have thought it would be big news, especially on an island that hosts Full Moon parties.

[ParadiseLost]

"The urine tests used in the mining industry in Australia test for multi drugs including meth and pot as well as cocaine and opiates. I would not bet they are only testing for meth."

But do they care about the pot? Friend who owns a construction company in US gets all new workers tested and does periodic tests. It tests for pot but he does not care about this; speed is what he is concerned about and I would do it too if I had a similar business.

Or they just tell you it can detect pot, thus effectively using it as a deterrent...

[thairastawoman]

So has anyone else been tested? If this was really happening i would have thought it would be big news, especially on an island that hosts Full Moon parties.

It is not big news and just BS of some people who have been cheated by cops who put their willy in a glass of water and said it was positive !

[Pinothippy]

I would not be shocked to see it happen considering the mass testing of people in their own homes in BKK that happened this week.

[BigC]

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I meant to ask "... What do they test for, specifically?

normally it says on the packet. Cannabis, meth amphetamine. extra.

Up to them what they ant to check for and it is supposed to be random to catch people out though expect more random laws now with these crack downs. would not surprise me if they have a crack down on drink driving soon where they shl have breathlizers at the check point and check everyone/

They normally only do tis around new years but now u have to expect the un expected

The laws here can be quite strict but they have the power to be relaxed with them as it suites them.

So suggest to read up on the laws because the system is set in place where u do something wrong. you might get little trouble or you might get jail time.

SO be careful

[bberrythailand]

How much do they want ?

[bleble]

They were doing it again last month, a friend was checked.

[jrjrjr]

Warning to people visiting Koh Tao when coming from a place where cannabis is legal. Friends tested positive on Koh tao even when they didn't do anything wrong in Thailand, and they had to pay an expensive "fine" to go home...

[BigC]

It illegal if your caught and your offered to get out of trouble then do it and quick and don’t complain unless you want to be deported and jailed.