Drugtest In Nightclubs

[alexth]

Hi Donz,

Yes you are very perceptive, i did feel the need to get that out.

Its just that i remember Thailand , specifically Bangkok, in the 1990's when Chuen Leekpai and Chavalit and Banharn were in charge and they really didn't care about interfering in tourists lives (or indeed Thai lives) they just let it all happen. Whatever.

Bangkok was fun , fun fun. Now the last few times i have been back its much more dull, cant do this , cant do that , and all my Thai friends still there are telling me what an awful , controlled place its becoming.

Anyway i'll say no more .. unless of course you want me to

Dull because you can't take drugs? ?

As others have said if you fancy a long holiday at the BKK Hilton just carry on "speeding".

Are your Thai friends yaabaa dealers by any chance.....

I don't think he meant taking drugs, but the new laws are annoying to everyone whether you take drugs or not.

Thailand is more controlled and it is less fun in some ways. Having to go home at 1am unless you want to drink on a street side. Not being able to smoke in Public places (this is coming in nov 06, it's been shown in the royal gazette already, post dated.). Random drugs tests in bars, your night ruined just for being in a legal nightspot regardless of whether you take drugs or not.

Difficulty being able to drive at night due to closure of petrol stations. Purchase of alcohol during day time difficult due to sales restrictions.

Toned down shows in the nightlife areas. Not a big deal, but I have more fun looking at a girl in her birthday suit than a swim costume.

However many things have improved since the 90's. Such as better nightlcubs, better music, more things to do in bkk, and much better shopping. Although many items still too expensive.

It's obvious to all that control is greater now than the late 90's. IMHO that makes it less fun, although the city itself is better.

If when Thaksin is gone enforcement of certain laws is relaxed, or new laws made to extend opening hours etc then I think Bangkok will once again be the most fun city in the world.

I do believe we'll go back to how it was sooner or later.

I agree, all this stupid control makes Thailand borring, on the other hand, would you imagine thais being allowed to take drugs or gamble?...you do the maths

[womble]

There's a huge underground gambling scene in Thailand, Thaksin has made it very clear he would like it controlled under law and legalised, no prizes for guessing who wins the concessions.

If gambling was ever legalised here under Thaksin it wouldn't be done in a way similar to Singapore, it would more likley involve Owners of Chinesse casino's, possibly with someone similar to Stanley Ho, don't expect the vegas casino's here. I don't think Thaksin would like to see the money leave to westerners. I expect he'd rather run it all himself, if he couldn't then he'd use the expertise of the Chinesse.

Also Thailand has a huge drug problem, has done for years, making people piss in bottles is not the way to improve things eigher.

Killing drug dealers works well, the huge rise is street prices shows it worked to a certain extent, i'm not condoning it, but the price rise demonstrates it's effectiveness. Obviously it shows a flagrant disregard for human rights and the rule of rule. Something I believe Thaksin should be held accountable for and charged for state sanctioned murder. This should be a capital offence, it's not that different to enthnic cleansing really, the difference being these people are killed due to their involvement with a particular substance rather than a particular race or religion.

Edited September 3, 2006 by womble

[atlastaname]

Two extremely lucid and well written posts from WOMBLE, and i have to say i agree with what he has written.

I SOOOO hope he is right when he says Thailand will return to the fun place it was in the 90's.

[baboon]

Two extremely lucid and well written posts from WOMBLE, and i have to say i agree with what he has written.

I SOOOO hope he is right when he says Thailand will return to the fun place it was in the 90's.

Yeah, good stuff from womble again. But what are the penalties for a negative urine test for farang? Jail? Deportation?

[jdinasia]

I vaguely remember the Q bar raid about 2 years ago August ....

2 people tested positive <both girls with no nationality listed ... probably Thai ... said it was legal diet pills> and a BUNCH of farang that didn't have passports with them taken to Immigration until they could get their original passports down there. They were fined 1000 baht and released ...

EVERYONE took the pee test ... over 300 people

[Alreadyinuse]

I am risking of getting shot down here, anyway.

How about quitting taking drugs for the only really good reason there is. Your health???

Not a good choice??

Well take the chances then, it's your choice until it starts to effect other people. Lets face it getting caught in a drugtest would really be the least scary that could happen.

I am talking about risking ending up in accidents or being the one causing them, getting caught in raids coulod result in loosing your job (that is if you are employed), your reputation as a serious businessman, psykological and physiological effects are well documented. Only God knows all the other good reasons for not having them in the first place.

If you wanna fly high as a KITE try hanggliding, you would definitely get that buzz. The best thing would still be to build up your selfesteem and selfconfidence.

*I am taking cover in the trenches waiting for the massive return of fire whilst holding my breath*

[pedro01]

I wasn't going to participate in this thread anymore , having put my views very clearly, but having been asccused by dereklev of being a drug addict who moves with a crowd of drug dealers , i suppose i had better explain a bit more.

I thought my post was clear in that i was talking about the country and BKK in particular when i said it was fun , fun , fun and now is duller. Not about drugs especially. As it happens , i don't take drugs, or smoke or drink alcohol. A real pure guy . However i don't see why those who want to can't. An example i was referring to when i said its becoming so controlled, is the latest lunacy of the govt restricting the hours you can buy alcohol (i can't recall the detail but isn't it something stupid like only between this and this , and then you can't for a couple of hours , and then you can again).

And can i ask , is anyone here seriously suggesting that smoking pot or taking "e" should result in being sent to an inhunan jail for any length of time , let alone the years you would get in Thailand. Its crazy .

Look , people know the dangers of taking drugs, they all do , so why should we bother if they want to continue. I don't tell you to stop smoking because it will give you cancer, you know that , if you choose to continue why should anyone stop you .? Its your choice. Same with alcohol and same with drugs and glue sniffing and all the rest. Why should drugs be illegal and not smoking? Potentially they can both kill , and potentially they could both not kill you .

I prefer the days back in BKK when the pavements were littered with smokers , alcoholics, beggers, druggies and the rest.

Didn't bother me , why should it bother you ?

Its life and no-one can or will stop it . The best they can do is drive it away from public view. Well whats that achieved. Do it on the street or in the home , whats the difference.

People, and governments, should let people chose how they want to live their lives .

Two weeks ago, a yaa baa addict murdered 2 people close to Lumpini Park. One he releived of 1000 Baht and the other 20 Baht.

You regularly hear of yaa baa heads killing their own parents when refused money to buy drugs. You regularly see people spun out on yaa baa abducting student girls at knife point - sometimes killing them & sometimes not.

But hey - just let them do what they want, eh ?

It's one thing for some middle-class European to do a few e's in their home country, knowing that the community is there to help them if they ###### up. It's another thing entirely for people in a developing country to become addicted to substances as a form of escape. If people want to do drugs - do them in their own country, not this one. It's not the same. Don't tell me it's their fault - it's the fault of the &lt;deleted&gt; bringing it & getting the punters hooked on it.

And YES - I have done 'e', speed, coke, heroin, lsd etc etc myself - many years ago before I saw many of my peers self-destruct. They could handle it though !

In my 9 years here - I haven't found the place any less fun because of tightening drug laws.

[Donz]

I agree with the urine tests, you get busted then itsyour own fault.

You take the risk of using drugs then you should accept the penalties.

An easy way to not getcaugt is not take drugs..

Its as simple as that

[Scott]

What a pompous lot! The problem for a lot of people is not that they are closet druggies--the problem is the little thing called a false positive. These tests are notoriously unreliable and it's easy to get a positive reaction. A number of over-the-counter medications, such as antihistamines etc. can affect some tests.

Now, the problem is, do you think you can explain any of this to a policeman? If they were administered by a medical person it would be different. At any rate, it's very intrusive and for what? How many people do they catch?

Some years back, I was out with friends when they came in and did one of these things. What a complete downer and an end to the evening. On that occasion, they only checked the Thai customers, the farangs were told to leave. We waited for our friends for about an hour, but they still hadn't materialized.

About that same time, they used to check Silom, Soi 4 quite regularly. Finally the press (who accompanied the police), began to question why they were doing it, since they hadn't found a single drug user there.

Waste of time and resources.

[siddv]

Makes me feel like I'm in George W's USA. Oh wait a minute, I'm still here. I'm confused! Which facist govt are we talking about here!

[t.s]

pompous lot indeed.

i believe the OP's question was do they still test, not whether drug use was morally acceptable or legal.

the answer is NO, there have been no drug tests in Bangkok for six months or more lately, at least not at any expat freqeunted nightclub areas like RCA, Suk 11 or Silom.

closing times are also loosening up, nightclubs like bed and q bar are pushing till 2 am. RCA has never had a problem and silom is back to 2 am or later. Funky dojo on Patpong goes till around 3. other places are open til 6 am on a rotating basis.

There is plenty going on with very low risk of contact with the men in brown, especially if you have the ability to enjoy yourself with a minimum of decorum. if you are a &lt;deleted&gt; you will have problems, but most &lt;deleted&gt; do anyway

so ignore the self-righteous preachers and advice from people like donz who are thousands of miles away and enjoy your holiday any way you want to.

[Donz]

pompous lot indeed.

i believe the OP's question was do they still test, not whether drug use was morally acceptable or legal.

the answer is NO, there have been no drug tests in Bangkok for six months or more lately, at least not at any expat freqeunted nightclub areas like RCA, Suk 11 or Silom.

closing times are also loosening up, nightclubs like bed and q bar are pushing till 2 am. RCA has never had a problem and silom is back to 2 am or later. Funky dojo on Patpong goes till around 3. other places are open til 6 am on a rotating basis.

There is plenty going on with very low risk of contact with the men in brown, especially if you have the ability to enjoy yourself with a minimum of decorum. if you are a &lt;deleted&gt; you will have problems, but most &lt;deleted&gt; do anyway

so ignore the self-righteous preachers and advice from people like donz who are thousands of miles away and enjoy your holiday any way you want to.

The main advise was dont do drugs in thailand, you think thats wrong advise??

[t.s]

Hello my friend,

I heard some stories about taken by the police urinetests in nightclubs.

Is the police still doing that?

show me where the OP asked if they should take drugs? show me where the OP said they intended to take drugs.

Do you have any recent experience or information regarding drug tests in Bangkok? No, you dont.

when were you last here?

and by the way, it is spelt advice. Advise is a verb.

and your advice on whether or not to take drugs was definitely not soliticited.

[Donz]

Hello my friend,

I heard some stories about taken by the police urinetests in nightclubs.

Is the police still doing that?

show me where the OP asked if they should take drugs? show me where the OP said they intended to take drugs.

Do you have any recent experience or information regarding drug tests in Bangkok? No, you dont.

when were you last here?

and by the way, it is spelt advice. Advise is a verb.

and your advice on whether or not to take drugs was definitely not soliticited.

Actually you are right.

[t.s]

Hello my friend,

I heard some stories about taken by the police urinetests in nightclubs.

Is the police still doing that?

show me where the OP asked if they should take drugs? show me where the OP said they intended to take drugs.

Do you have any recent experience or information regarding drug tests in Bangkok? No, you dont.

when were you last here?

and by the way, it is spelt advice. Advise is a verb.

and your advice on whether or not to take drugs was definitely not soliticited.

Actually you are right.

thank you, and i was not specifically singling you out, yours was just the second post in the thread

[h5n1]

thailand is now full of laws, rules and regulations all of which double enforced on the immigrant population that lets face it without them this nation would look more like indonesia than singapore. make no mind that thousands of farang are supporting divorced women and their babies from no good thai men. the billions given to charities, etc...

the govt is absolutely PATHETIC and teh last 12 months has proven this clearly on top of that stupid airport err...shopping mall with planes.

but of course, all of you will take the insults and abuse becasue its teh only place that women will pay any attention to you at all. what thailand needs is a full on foreigner boycott/solidarity movement. but everyone here is so selfish and singleminded it could never happen.

taksin first to go, why does he remind me so much of BUSH?

[t.s]

thailand is now full of laws, rules and regulations all of which double enforced on the immigrant population that lets face it without them this nation would look more like indonesia than singapore. make no mind that thousands of farang are supporting divorced women and their babies from no good thai men. the billions given to charities, etc...

the govt is absolutely PATHETIC and teh last 12 months has proven this clearly on top of that stupid airport err...shopping mall with planes.

but of course, all of you will take the insults and abuse becasue its teh only place that women will pay any attention to you at all. what thailand needs is a full on foreigner boycott/solidarity movement. but everyone here is so selfish and singleminded it could never happen.

taksin first to go, why does he remind me so much of BUSH?

thank you for that completely irrelavent venting of spleen.

perhaps you could start the boycott, we will be right behind you. we are glad you came along, we needed an altruist like yourself to open our eyes.

[atlastaname]

Seems like a mixture of posts here. You have the predictable ones from the "don't do this don't do that" brigade who think that even thinking about drugs should carry a life in prison sentence, but thankfully they are equalled by the more enlightened who believe in the freedom of people to choose what they do with their life .

Unfortunately even Bangkok is populated by too many farangs who just can't mind their own business and get on with their lives. They import the fascist mentality of the countries they come from to Thailand , and thats a shame.

I went to a local nightclub (in the uk) this weekend and the place was full of people secretly handing over drugs and vanishing into the toilets , then returning to the dance floor a minute later having taken them. My point here being , as loads of people are taking them anyway, why go through this farce of having to do it secretly. Why not just let them do it openly. Its the same end result. As i said previously i DON'T take them , but it doesn't bother me at all if others want to exercise their freedom of choice to do so. But others, like the pompous farangs who posted here and on other threads, just can't get on with their lives without imposing their views on others. Giving a couple of examples of drug killings hardly prove the point. Life is unfair and you can be in the wrong polace at the wrong time. Every day millions of people die , how many are killed by drug addicts , 10,20....??

These Thai crackdowns will NEVER stop drugs or even reduce them , it will go on forever. Its a waste of time .. just a show to appease the fascist American and western governments . Thailand should adopt Irans mentality of saying "up yours " to those who try to impose their reactionary views on other countries.

Hmm i feel better for that

[womble]

It's an issue hardly worth debating, we all know the risks involved in thailand, however small the chance of being caught. However i'll say this, personally I have never heard of anyone caught with small personal amounts of drugs with money to actually have anything serious happen to them. They've spent a few hours normally or on rare occasions a few days if they're skint in a jail to scare them to come up with some cash which really isn't that much when you think of the possible consequenes.

Trafficing is a different story, you better know people and have lots of cash. Most people in jail in Thailand do not have money. Those with cash in jail are normally there for political reasons or because they turned down or failed to recognise opportunities to get themselves out.

[Donz]

thailand is now full of laws, rules and regulations all of which double enforced on the immigrant population that lets face it without them this nation would look more like indonesia than singapore. make no mind that thousands of farang are supporting divorced women and their babies from no good thai men. the billions given to charities, etc...

the govt is absolutely PATHETIC and teh last 12 months has proven this clearly on top of that stupid airport err...shopping mall with planes.

but of course, all of you will take the insults and abuse becasue its teh only place that women will pay any attention to you at all. what thailand needs is a full on foreigner boycott/solidarity movement. but everyone here is so selfish and singleminded it could never happen.

taksin first to go, why does he remind me so much of BUSH?

I wonder if you live in Thailand, or how you got to thailand in the first place

[atlastaname]

i rarely say this , but , yet again , i find everything WOMBLE says is spot on .

Money talks, Fact. And i agree with that happening . Whats the point of an otherwise useful member of society being incarcerated for any length of time , when paying a fine will be a warning for the future.

Three cheers for corruption... personally i approve. Shame we don't have it here in the UK

[samran]

There's a huge underground gambling scene in Thailand, Thaksin has made it very clear he would like it controlled under law and legalised, no prizes for guessing who wins the concessions.

I'd wager a lot of money that you are wrong. But thats just me.

[GracelessFawn]

Hello my friend,

I heard some stories about taken by the police urinetests in nightclubs.

Is the police still doing that?

Sh**te, I better quit drinking coffee ASAP.

I think, they'll start testing for coffeeAddicts soon, as well.

[jdinasia]

Gotta love this topic .....

It's pretty black and white .... the drug laws here are intense. Do drugs and take your chances... And YES people DO go to jail for small amounts of drugs. And when they get out they sit in Immigration holding until someone pays their way out of Thailand by air.

And in the highly publicised raids there are no deals to be had for people with dosh.

The laws have not gotten more strict in recent years. They aren't even enforced that much more. That being said ... get busted and pay the consequences.

(No I have no pity for someone that chooses to do drugs in Thailand. No I don't care that some people are in favor of legalizing drugs. )

[Donz]

People who say there stiff laws ect doesnt reduce anything is talking out of there ass.

If it was legal im sure many many more people would be getting high

[atlastaname]

People who say there stiff laws ect doesnt reduce anything is talking out of there ass.

If it was legal im sure many many more people would be getting high

To Donz,

Stiff laws might reduce it but don't go anywhere near eradicating it and never never will. Of course if it were legal more people would use it , thats obvious ...whats your point ?

To jdiniasia,

Uusual reactionary stuff from you . Looking through your posts it seems you are one of those who can never just get on with your life but has to try to interfere with others. Why does it bother you if someone wants to get high , drink too much or sniff glue or whatever. Why do you care , its their choice why do you try to make it yours ?? Knowing , as you do , the dreadful conditions prisoners are held in in Thailand , why don't you have any pity for drug users being put there for endless years , many of whom will die there. Seems like you are saying ... have a few puffs of pot and i think you should suffer atrocities everyday for the rest of your life . Am i right? is that what you and the reactionaries are saying ? Or am i missing something

[jdinasia]

Yes you ARE missing something .......

I don't care WHAT you do! Drink and fall in a pool and die ... your choice! <Drink and drive and I care>

BUT ... be an adult .... come to a country with stiff drug laws and do drugs ... pay the consequences if you are caught!

a few puffs of pot won't land you in jail here for the rest of your life .... but it may very well send you to jail for longer than in some other places. then send you packing with a note saying "don't bother coming back to Thailand". <If they have a LOT of pot it could be a very long time .... if it is a LOT of 'E' it'll be years and years!>

Like you say ..... People makes choices ... it is WELL KNOWN that drug laws are stiff here ... if people CHOOSE to do drugs here and get caught ; to quote you, Why do you care? It is their choice! Be an adult! You know the consequences of your actions if you choose to do drugs in Thailand ...

[atlastaname]

JDINASIA,

You are also missing something. If you read more carefully what i am saying it is that I don't care and i don't see why you care, if people come to Thailand and do drugs. I don't do them BTW, don't even smoke ciggies. So again i ask you , why does it bother you ?

I also asked you if you think atrocious (understatement) jail conditions are an appropriate punishment for someone having a few puffs or even having a pocket of E to go out for the night with. You didn't answer that.

No-one is disputing what the law says in Thailand, thats a given, what i am asking you and all the other hang em and flog em brigade , is why you appear to agree with it. A few puffs and off to jail for , what , a couple of years ? For christs sake WHYYYYYY!! A 500 baht fine would seem over the top to me .

[jdinasia]

BECAUSE ... they are ADULTS!

I don't care if people do drugs! I don't care if people go to jail for doing drugs! I don't care how long they go to jail for for doing drugs! It doesn't bother me!

Though the last case I know of where someone had a few puffs ... they were stuck here for about 2 weeks ... paid a tidy fine ... then were sent packing and black-listed. Fortunately for farang is that if you are caught here and sentenced to a long time you will likely be transferred back to your home country after awhile. <to do time there>

But simply ....You DO care ... you think it is acceptable to come to thailand and do drugs with little or no penalty attached.

and simply I don'tcare ... come and do drugs and pay the penalty ... I don't care what the penalty is! A small fine or a long jail term ... it doesn't matter to me! I am an adult and I live with the consequences of my actions. I respect you enough to allow you to suffer the consequences of your actions. I respect the random drug user to allow them to be an adult too!

[Donz]

People who say there stiff laws ect doesnt reduce anything is talking out of there ass.

If it was legal im sure many many more people would be getting high

To Donz,

Stiff laws might reduce it but don't go anywhere near eradicating it and never never will. Of course if it were legal more people would use it , thats obvious ...whats your point ?

To jdiniasia,

Uusual reactionary stuff from you . Looking through your posts it seems you are one of those who can never just get on with your life but has to try to interfere with others. Why does it bother you if someone wants to get high , drink too much or sniff glue or whatever. Why do you care , its their choice why do you try to make it yours ?? Knowing , as you do , the dreadful conditions prisoners are held in in Thailand , why don't you have any pity for drug users being put there for endless years , many of whom will die there. Seems like you are saying ... have a few puffs of pot and i think you should suffer atrocities everyday for the rest of your life . Am i right? is that what you and the reactionaries are saying ? Or am i missing something

My point was that having stiff laws definately reduce drug use, people seem to think they should go easy on this because it wont get rid of it for good. which is nonsense