Valium in Chiang Mai

[banagan]

I just tried to buy some valium in a local pharmacy, they told me I had to go to the hospital.

I bought valium no problem a couple of years back... is it only some pharmacies that sell it over the counter?

Do I really need to go to the hospital?

[Konini]

You do - many drugs that used to be freely available here are now tightly controlled. Every time I buy tramadol now I have to give my name, passport number and phone number, and anything containing codeine is strictly only available from the pain management clinic at the Suan Dok complex, and they really don't like prescribing them - for a serious long term back problem I had a prescription for 15mg tablets - you can get that over the counter in Australia (if the pharmacist on duty doesn't know you, you have to produce photo ID to get it).

Edited October 8, 2014 by Maestro
Deleted inappropriate part of the post.

[elektrified]

Even getting Valium at the hospital now has become difficult. They don't want to give it. No longer available at any pharmacies.

[Tokay]

You can still get valium at various pharmacies around town. Ask for it by it's generic name.

It is xanax you have to get at the hospital now, but here and there you can find a place with old supplies, but it is getting harder to come by. If you really need it, hit Pattaya, you'll find it (xanax) there, along with most anything else they shouldn't be selling.

[Tokay]

Every time I buy tramadol now I have to give my name, passport number and phone number

Tramadol is not hard to get. Not sure why they are giving you a hard time about it as a foreigner. VERY easy to get in Chiang Mai, no questions asked. I just picked up a few boxes last week and sent them to Bangkok to a Thai friend who couldn't get them there because he was Thai.

[Loaded]

I couldn't even buy actifed over the counter last week.

[cloudhopper]

I was told by one pharmacist last week that even benedryl was also now restricted OTC but managed to find some.

[Ulysses G.]

A well known pharmacy near Thapae Gate has sold me Valium every time I've flown for many years. A few months ago, I tried to but some and was given an adamant no. My guess is that no one else in a drug store is selling it anymore either.

[northernjohn]

Every time I buy tramadol now I have to give my name, passport number and phone number

Tramadol is not hard to get. Not sure why they are giving you a hard time about it as a foreigner. VERY easy to get in Chiang Mai, no questions asked. I just picked up a few boxes last week and sent them to Bangkok to a Thai friend who couldn't get them there because he was Thai.

I was diagnosed with RLM in Canada and prescribed tramadol. When moving here to Thailand I was told it was unavailable here. Since then it has become available in Thailand. My doctor suggests that I buy it in Canada when I am back there as it is much cheaper there.

[hml367]

Sone Thai pharmacies and pharmacists are against the new guidelines (requirements) for selling certain medicine in Thailand. A friend that works in the pharmacy at Ram told me this Monday.

[uptheos]

Every time I buy tramadol now I have to give my name, passport number and phone number

Tramadol is not hard to get. Not sure why they are giving you a hard time about it as a foreigner. VERY easy to get in Chiang Mai, no questions asked. I just picked up a few boxes last week and sent them to Bangkok to a Thai friend who couldn't get them there because he was Thai.

I was diagnosed with RLM in Canada and prescribed tramadol. When moving here to Thailand I was told it was unavailable here. Since then it has become available in Thailand. My doctor suggests that I buy it in Canada when I am back there as it is much cheaper there.

Tramadol was dirt cheap until the 'crackdown'.

I know someone who bought it in bulk cheaper than me, but from personal experience I paid 30 baht for 10 capsules in that little pharmacy in Tesco, Hang Dong many times. I bought it by the box as it was so cheap. Same price in that pharmacy next to Robinsons, top floor Airport Plaza. It's certainly not cheaper in North America or Europe, you can't buy 10 for a buck. However, it might start to be more expensive as the government seems determined to ban everything here, thus leaving hospitals and doctors to have total control over supply and the price.

[hmficc]

Thailand is 30 years behind the developed world when it comes to pain control.

[hanuman2543]

I bought Tramadol last week in San Sai . 30 Baht for 10 but had to show DL and they wrote down my name.

[VillageIdiot]

 

Thailand is 30 years behind the developed world when it comes to pain control.

 

In what ways, exactly?

I am not being sarcastic... I would really like to know.

[hml367]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/766867-thai-pharmacists-to-demand-fda-review-new-drugs-bill/?utm_source=newsletter-20141009-0739&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

[cloudhopper]

 

Thailand is 30 years behind the developed world when it comes to pain control.

 

In what ways, exactly?

I am not being sarcastic... I would really like to know.

The unavailability of effective analgesics for outpatients, even the terminally ill.

Dukkha is good for you.

[onthedarkside]

One unnecessary/unhelpful post has been removed.

[Oscar2]

You can still get valium at various pharmacies around town. Ask for it by it's generic name.

you can no longer get Valium (Diazepam). every pharmacy I used to buy it from told me that by law they can no longer sell it. i was in a very bad accident more than a year ago and getting anything was very difficult. even at the hospital where i went every few days the doctors would never give more than 10 at a time and sometimes none.

[banagan]

Well that sucks, I remember buying them for 10 baht a pop. And having to show your id to buy bloody tramadol!

Guess I could try Chiang Mai Ram, but have a feeling they'd cost a bomb.

[Chicog]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

[JulieM]

Chicog, what business of it is yours why he's using valium? Their could be a dozen good reasons, and most of them private.

Sure he can go to a doctor and get what he needs, but why go to the added expense if they are available (which, apparently, they no longer are.)

Edited October 9, 2014 by JulieM

[mesquite]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

Good question. Check out the movie "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" to follow one woman's battle with Valium addiction.

Edited October 9, 2014 by mesquite

[JulieM]

And while you're at it check out the movie "Reefer Madness."

[Oscar2]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

jeeez valium has many uses, including chronic back and neck pain and muscle spasms. been around for decades. i've never felt any anxiety in C.M. either. but i have constant neck pain from an accident. ibuprofen helps some, ibuprofen + diazepam helps more.

p.s. not really any of your business but...

Edited October 9, 2014 by Oscar2

[roger1999]

Before having that next drink be sure to watch "Leaving Las Vegas." : )

What a great movie that was. A total bummer of a movie, but a great movie.

[mesquite]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

jeeez valium has many uses, including chronic back and neck pain and muscle spasms. been around for decades. i've never felt any anxiety in C.M. either. but i have constant neck pain from an accident. ibuprofen helps some, ibuprofen + diazepam helps more.

p.s. not really any of your business but...

Then there should be no problem in getting it from a doctor. Maybe you need ten pills, so the doc ensures you get ten. If you need more, you go back. This system of checks and balances prevents people from buying, say, 500 at a shot.

IMHO Chicog asking people why they need to be using an addictive drug is spot on. It's just a question.

Edited October 9, 2014 by mesquite

[Chicog]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

And why are you all using valium by the way? I've never felt that anxious in Chiang Mai.

jeeez valium has many uses, including chronic back and neck pain and muscle spasms. been around for decades. i've never felt any anxiety in C.M. either. but i have constant neck pain from an accident. ibuprofen helps some, ibuprofen + diazepam helps more.

p.s. not really any of your business but...

It became everyone's business the minute you chose to post it on a public forum.

Just saying' like.

Added: I'd go easy on the ibuprofen too, that wrecks your insides if you overdo it.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Chicog

[cloudhopper]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

Fortunately I have never needed any strong pain meds since I have lived here but I know many who have and it doesn't appear that many physicians or dentists are willing (or perhaps even able) to prescribe opiates etc on an outpatient basis, even to the terminally ill. I see that deaths from prescription opiates etc have reached an all time high in the US so I understand the issues but there needs to be some reasonable balance between those extremes.

[Chicog]

There is a reason they are called controlled drugs.

If you need them, a doctor can prescribe them no?

Fortunately I have never needed any strong pain meds since I have lived here but I know many who have and it doesn't appear that many physicians or dentists are willing (or perhaps even able) to prescribe opiates etc on an outpatient basis, even to the terminally ill. I see that deaths from prescription opiates etc have reached an all time high in the US so I understand the issues but there needs to be some reasonable balance between those extremes.

If I was terminally ill I probably wouldn't be begging Thai doctors for painkillers but ordering some of those Mexican specials off the Internet....

[Ulysses G.]

It probably would not that difficult to get methadone for severe pain, which is synthetic heroin, but it is something like 10 times more addictive that the real thing and almost impossible to ever kick. That scares me. Morphine would be much better all the way around, but difficult to get.

Edited October 9, 2014 by Ulysses G.