Drugs situation in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand

[Skäggbiff]

That sounds like a bad idea.

I disagree. With your head on the right place - Thailand is still a great country for drug use of all kinds.

 

[IAmJacksUserName]

^^

Yeah but with Cambodia right next door, I'd rather go there and enjoy a much less risky situation. My logic is that in Thailand, you can definitely score with a manageable risk factor if you know the country, but if you're just arriving on Khao San Road trust no one. In Cambodia, they still seem perfectly happy to let foreigners buy drugs and support the business (it's full of complicity on the part of the police and army), as long as no one acts like an idiot. Even if you do act like an idiot and get caught with minor possession, they're more interested in taking your money than they are interested in sending you to prison.

 

[billabong]

BTW yaba and ice can get confusing, 'yaba' may or may not mean practically any speedy granules, depending on how hip the actual Thai you are talking to is about these matters! just like here, obviously, some straight and narrow people down your street would have no idea what half our BL terms mean. so unless you know the lingo OR your new-found Thai friends know their pharmacology, YMMV. I could explain more, but I won't -it gets too close to 'sourcing' talk otherwise.

For pharama meds, like another poster said, just take the box, or google several brand names, and the 'designated/generic name' of the stuff you want and write them all down, you'll find they sell an amazing amount of ''script only'' pharms over the counter there in the bigger cities and pharmacies. Don't be scared to ask, the worst the pharmacist will do is say 'no', and you're outta there.

For those delving deeper, a good lingo book to get is Lonely Planets Thai phrasebook.

It has a lot of surprisingly useful 'counter-culture' and 'sexy-time' words and phrases, and the Thai script right next to the English in case your Adelaide accent is as incomprehensible in Sukhumvit Rd. as it is in Sydney

 

[billabong]

That sounds like a bad idea.

It is in Pattaya, the Russian mob and Ronnie Biggs wannabes from Essex have overstayed their welcome and its game on. best stay away from that city if you don't already have a contact -or source elsewhere. Thais themselves are regularly busted in Pattaya and shown on TV almost every other night, if the locals are going down to undercover narcs, tourists don't stand a snowballs chance...

Try not to get too cosy with Black dudes in Thailand, no offense but they're still few enough to be highly conspicuous, therefore easy to watch and follow, and they've sadly, deservedly or not, brought the classic 'ghetto' profile and it's attendant prejudice with them. To give you an example, I witnessed the cops pull over and search a taxi with 3 black guys in it recently, I have never ever seen that done to any other foreigners, Thais yes, but not foreigners.... just sayin'

Finally, read the local papers online before you go, and keep up to date, if some bigwig declares a drug offensive -and they happen usually around election time, naturally (fuckin hypocrites in any language, those poll-lickers) or sometimes just becuz, the coppers can raid any premises AND force you to supply a sample, you don't need to be 'holding' to go down...

If you plan on a big night in the bigger cities, the safest bet is to organise to enjoy it in your room, or follow the advice of Skaggbiff, iamJacksusername, et al.

 

[dlmod]

I've nearly walked this entire island trying to find something. Hell I can't even find a 7-11 that's willing to sell me a damn calling card. Maybe its just the time of year with so many foreigners here, but I'm planning on leaving in a few days if my luck doesn't change.

 

[Battyboi69]

Cambodia is shit. Too xpensive, heroin is cheaper and better quality in london and its crap here most time. I was a tourist though but mangaged to connect with a local. Things havent been the same since G.G shone a big light on their sex and drug scene. The weed was cheap but no use if your sick.

 

[Beat Narrative]

please delete my post it was off topic and not in the spirit of harm reduction

i am going to blame wine for this oversight, seems better than my own ignorance as an excuse

 

[simplejack]

Thailand nowaday is still invested with Yaba (easy to smoke little meth vanilla tablets ) and Ice (meth pure form)
coke is getting more popular but not easy to buy and if you buy most dealers will try to sell you some fake powder .
If you go to thailand I presume you will see lots of hookers I presume well 80% of them is smoking yaba if you see them have a pack of JuicyFruit chewinggum you can be sure they smoke or if them pack of siggs looks like its missing a peace of paper .
if you want to be safe than tell the prostitute to buy some for you cause all prostitutes and gogogirls are allowed to smoke cause how else they could work so long without falling to sleep, never buy more than 10pills cause more pills could mean you would be selling
Yaba and sex is a very good mix if you also take Viagra or Cialis wich you can buy at all pharmacies close to redlight districts .

last time I entered bangkok on 31dec newyears day and all the hotels were full and my taxi refused driving any longer so I ended up in the Hilton 700dollar a night suite only cause I had to take a shit fast and was swetting cause I did not take any oxy for longer than 12hour , I was so relieved when I finaly got a room yea it sux being a addict .

ps when my oxycontin is finished I have to visit hospitals to buy morphine pills with lies saying I got a kidneystone and they give me morphine 20mg pills most times wich are not good to snort .

 

[sydkiwi]

^ No discussion of where to find pharmacies or specific ones are allowed. But I too am curious what the current pharmaceutical situation is over there.

Go into a pharmacy there, doesn't matter which island or Bangkok, we got normally prescription drugs (well at least in Australia) over the counter quite easily after saying we were having trouble sleeping.

 

[weed: all you need]

yooo
I was all over south east asia last year and thought i may aswell post some stuff
sorry this is mainly about weed rather than anything else but here we go... -.-
Not really worth it in Thialand due to death penalty etc. although down in the islands in bars that pay off the police i assume its A ok. Koh pangnan mushroom mountain you can get doobies and shakes. bit of a rip off but smoke enough of them and def does the job. the shakes wernt overly trippy but still was seeing some pretty cool shit in the clouds, mountains. Another place on the smaller beach opposite had rin theres an awesome treehouse bar, again sells doobies (cheaper than mushy mountain but not as fat) and shroom shakes which seemed to get much better the more weed was consumed. didnt get hold of bags here just doobies (all thai stick) which is pretty low grade weed but better than this kenyan bush im smoking now! koh phi phi has a beach bar/cafe that sells bags and doobies (you will guess what bar if you see it & its name) they are pretty expensive and it was thai stick but pretty sweet to just be able to chill on the beach and bun up. we went to the bar next door to this and asked the farang owner (think she was english) if she knew where to get bud as we wanted to see if there was better weed and she went crazy saying she could be executed blah blah... she then proceeded to introducing us to one of her staff who was a dealer so didnt really know what she was getting at haha. he was just selling pre rolls but much cheaper than next door.
Laos weed differed and was better than thailand. Started off just smoking thai stick as assumed there was no high grade there and down in southern laos (4000 islands) can get a half oz for absolutely nothing and the dealer is an 8 year old kid and his mum was quite funny. Did manage to find some good weed though never really seen anything like it we smoked it and everyones hearts were racing about a million miles an hour haha (dont know whether this was due to our tolerance decreasing from smoking shite weed) and we all had to have a nap and sleep it off (ofcourse finished the rest of the bag on awakening) pretty chilled most places there about smoking up just dont be an idiot and advertise what ur doing. We used to stick the weed in food that we ate there too due to there being no stinky smell... shrooms were all over laos and some peopel said they were shit which i can agree with as did them a few times and only once was v good. literally thousands of 360 degree rainbows insantly appeared about an hour or so after drinking a couple of shakes. was incredible just mini rainbows everywhere haha, i tripped all night untill the morning when i was the only one in the whole bar where hundreds had been that night. for moments i felt like i was watching a black and white movie, pretty cool, and also turned me into a giant on another occasion. shrooms def one to do in laos, and if they dont work just keep trying different shakes untill you get a decent one i spose, trip some balls.
Cambodia - awesome
again there was thai stick and shitty weed around but by this time i was assuming there was better. Right outside one of our hostels near the beach we made friends with the group of tuk tuk drivers who hung around there all day and they used to sort us out with half ozs of some awesome high grade for next to nothing. Also in all of the happy pizza shops (which are easy to find and in most major towns) you can get a half oz (or near that just a guestimate) bag for sooooo cheap and the pizzas damn cheap too and costs no more to make it happy haha. Just make sure you ask for the high grade, if they give u thai stick just tell them you want the skunk and they usually woulkd go back and grab a different bag, although lots of the time it seemed theyd run out. We also got pizza deliverys and would just ask for a big bag of skunk with the pizzas and theyd be at our hostel in no time with the goods. (pizzas happy ofcourse) and aslong as you ask for it super happy you are guarenteed to be too stoned. I ate one before a bus journey out of siem riep and almost collapsed while waiting for the bus and had to put all my shit down and breath deeply thought i was guna die i was so high it was incredible.
vietnam - you could smoke it but again its thai stick or worse. probably worse. and expensive. so i didnt really bother.
malaysia - due to it being so illegal was pretty hard to find and only smoked it with someone i knew out there in penang but was pretty crappy thai stick again. and smoked with a guy we met in KL but not great.
but yeah cambodia for weed, sorry i havent talked about otc shite but at the end of the day weed is all you need. although shrooms are fun too
"none but ourselves can free out mind" - bob marley

 

[Foreigner]

I've been to all these places for an extended time. I lived in Asia for over a year. If you go backpacking in the mountains in Northern Thailand, opium is readily available for smoking. The people who live in the mountains sell it along the trail, along with weed. Southern Thailand is full of cannabis. IMO you are fine to do drugs that you obtain and use while you are IN a respective town, but never ever ever try to take the drugs across the borders or even during your transport. Do not transport cannabis in any amount, regardless if you are going by airplane, train, or bus, or if you are traveling WITHIN a country or to OUTSIDE of it. Dispose of whatever you have before your departure from where you currently are regardless of where you are going, and then obtain it locally again at each stop. Obviously use it discreetly at each location, but IMO doing it locally only in this way is safe and most tourists do it this way. Southern Thailand, in particular, is safe for cannabis. Police do not really patrol the islands, and even the locals are smoking pot. (The pot there is amazingly good quality, I was sad to not be able to take any with me.)

One glaring exception to all of the above rules is Bangkok. Do not obtain or do drugs there. There are plain clothed police everywhere and even the most innocent looking person could be a snitch, working for the police, or be a police officer themselves. They show no sympathy to foreigners - they will treat you just as they treat a Thai person if they catch you. If you want to do drugs, leave Bangkok. (IMO it's a dump there anyway, and there are much better places to be.) Also be wary of obtaining or doing drugs in any border town, as police are more active there. The border towns are sketchy anyway and I hated all of them - best to get in and out as fast as possible.

You will see signs that say drugs = execution at all the border crossings, and it's true. The Thailand court system will put you away for LIFE or execute you if they can pin trafficking charges on you. There are sniffer dogs at all border locations and the SE Asian governments are experts (more-so than the USA, in my opinion) at finding narcotics at the borders. In Laos, they have the ability to summarily execute you then and there, if the officer in charge is a prick. Amnesty International has slammed them about this, but they don't care. They'll put you against a wall and shoot you, no problem. I've heard horror stories of backpackers having to watch their friends be shot, after being on their knees with fistfulls of cash. The border police are corrupt like anywhere else, but if you get a moral nazi you have no hope in hell of escaping. Most police can be bought if they catch you smoking a joint. If it's opiates or amphetamines, forget it... those drugs are seen as major signs of corruption and enslavement and they will put you away forever.

People will tell you scary stories about SE Asia and drugs, but most people have never been there or were just passing through so they don't really know the fine details like I'm tellign you. You are in the most danger if you TRAFFICK drugs in any amount, and for the sake of caution, trafficking means travelling around with any quantity on you. If you're out in the boondocks like an island or in the mountains, you can basically do what you want. SE Asia is full of drugs and production of opiates is huge there. Just use your brain and keep your wits about you, and you'll be fine.

 

[Mr Blonde]

Go into a pharmacy there, doesn't matter which island or Bangkok, we got normally prescription drugs (well at least in Australia) over the counter quite easily after saying we were having trouble sleeping.

Yeah I know what the situation is in Thailand, I was more wondering about other SEA countries.

 

[losthippy]

Holidayed a few times in the Philipines, mostly in Cebu. Hooked up with the same taxi driver first two trips and scored oz's of expat-worthy buds rather than the seedy dried-out tourist level shit. Driver was a decent bloke- said the cops were increasingly pressuring street-level dealers to rat out and entrap tourists, especially around the big hotels and resorts. Big ops for big bribes to stay out of jail. Smart move is to taxi-shop until you find the right driver to ask. Do this well away from your lodgings in case you put the question to him and he kicks up a stink. It happens, and you don't want people knowing where you're staying. Also noticed last time there that touts were pushing shabu really hard, pressuring us to try some, free samples etc. Weed was overpriced and shitty but managed to find some decent bud on Boraki island though I suspect it was shipped there rather than locally grown. There are eyes everywhere so you
have to be discreet if you're just touristing around and watch out for crocodile smiles. Stay safe.

 

[adder811]

In Laos, they have the ability to summarily execute you then and there, if the officer in charge is a prick. Amnesty International has slammed them about this, but they don't care. They'll put you against a wall and shoot you, no problem. I've heard horror stories of backpackers having to watch their friends be shot, after being on their knees with fistfulls of cash.

I've never heard of this. Got a source? It sounds like some stupid backpacker myth that you hear now and then.

Can you imagine the uproar and international attention Laos would be getting if they shot tourists on suspicion of drug trafficking WITHOUT even a trial.

 

[Foreigner]

I've never heard of this. Got a source? It sounds like some stupid backpacker myth that you hear now and then.

Can you imagine the uproar and international attention Laos would be getting if they shot tourists on suspicion of drug trafficking WITHOUT even a trial.

I think it's mostly rumor, but I wouldn't take any chances.

 

[chopmow]

Not true at all........re. drug related.

I think I know where the rumour comes from and how it's developed into a myth.

In the last few years in S.E Asian countries (particulary Thailand) there have been tourists shot by policemen (drunk policemen.). It's usually happened when a couple has been drinking with an off duty policemen or the gf has and bf returns. Policemen makes move towards girl, girl spurns his advances, bf gets angry and Thai policemen loses face.

Result - Both tourists get shot.

This has happened in Chiang Mai, Pai, Kanchanaburi and other places. Policeman always gets away with it..........

Never ever heard of a foriegner being executed in Thailand, it just doesn't happen, the King commutes to life everytime for humanitarian reasons. Life is 50 years and anything over 25 years is served in Bang Kwang (Bangkok Hilton), maximum security prison.

Normal sentance for trafficking over 100 grams of H, Ice etc is life. Most foriegner serve 6-10 years and then one of two things happens. They get kings pardon and are released (only if they admit guilt). Depending on country they can serve half sentance in their own country through prisoner swap deal.

If you are caught with small amount for personal use very unlikely you will go to jail, most likely is bribe 20,000 baht for pot, up to 100k for ice or H.

Small dealer amounts 10-20grams of ice or H, you could get 2-5 years in a locals prison to the area you were caught then at end of sentance deported persona non grata and never allowed back.

Fact - you are far more likely to go to Jail in USA and UK, these two have highest Jailing rate out of all western countries, USA by far.

If you get caught trafficking large amounts here you will serve a lot of time, only Singapore, China and Malaysia will execute you though.


There's a lot of bullshit on this thread........

 

[psycosynthesis]

In Thailand I was lucky enough to be on a safe, secluded beach where the local cops from other islands were paid substantial bribes to turn the proverbial blind eye.

I had the best crystal MDMA I've ever had in my life, a relatively weak microdot, some mushroom tea, very poor quality weed, intermediate quality hash, and lots of over the counter xanax and valium. Also tramadol and dexies. Didn't try yaba though...

I would only risk drugs in these countries if you are with people who trust who know people they trust who can source. This being said, you are ALWAYS at risk of a lengthly jail sentence in a third-world prison. Fuck that. Use your intuition.

 

[snagglepuss]

Just got back from 5 weeks in Cambodia ,was in Sihanoukville and Phnom Penh
Here is my observations.The opium they have ,is a processed type.The only ki9nd i've ever
had (now that i've tried was "raw" opium.This kind didn't have a flowery smell.is kinda
hard but maleable.I gotta say it had been over 20 years since i last tried it.The buzz is a
kinda dark feeling.I found it to be not really fun,but i make all my opiate comparisons to Oxy
and Heroin.

The heroin as many have said,is the best you will find.Its expensive at $XXX a gram or $XXX 1/2,
but the quality is the bestive ever had.I don't really do H often ,and i don't inject.But over the
course of the trip,i went through 2 grams.As i enjoy smoking it,and this Se asian #4 smoked like a dream.
But be very careful as it is super strong,and available everywhere.

Dicodin or Dihydrocodeine and morph sulphate capsule are available at 1 yes only 1 pharmacy ,in downtown
Phnom Penh.You have to know where it is though (but it is easy to get),the rest don't have it or won't sell it.I was able to find
oxycodone at 1 only 1 Pharmacy,but they would only sell it to my european friend(very hard to get,he had to fake an injury),
and turned me down when i triedto buy it.I went to almost every pharmacy in the city.

If your an opiate head ,my advice is to stick to the China White.The morphine buzz i didn't care
for .Its kinda a dumb stupor.The opium was kinda a dark buzz ,i didn't really like .But my friend
likes it and smokes it regularly.

And last but not least .If your going to Cambodia ,and plan on meeting girls.All you really need is
a good attitude and most important(a collared shirt).Alot of foreigners didn't understand this.
Just take a shower and wear a collared shirt.This tells the girls your looking for someone,and
take it seriously.Yes they are avaiable to be picked up.But the girls don't wanna be with
someone who looks like a bum,is unshowered ,or looks like they just came from the beach with a t-shirt.
Even if your a freak ,just dress in a "nice shirt" with a collar shorts or pants.The locals will treat you
differently,you'll see.

In Phnom Penh you'll have to go into the bars ,for the most part.But in Sihanoukville just show
up at the Dolphin bar after 10:30 pm,and be friendly.Tons of girls show up to meet people ,be approached
by foreigners and dance.And most of all have fun!!!

 

[lolinoz]

My little Thai tip is when you get tired of buying sugar pills at a pharmacy, it takes about 20 minutes out of your day to go the hospital, get a legal script and your meds from the hospital pharmacy and will cost the same for 4 big Mac meals in Oz.

I discovered this during business hours one time I was rotten drunk from the day before in the middle of bkk, thought I would zigzag my way into the emergency department, must have managed to slur out a few lies and was walking out with a bag of meds in no time, since then I only use the pharmacies for an upset stomach, the hospital is more expensive but if you compare the costs to being ripped off in pharmacies it works out to be the same..

 

[drancer]

Anyone been to Laos or Cambodia recently? I wanna go in a few months.

I came back from Thailand last month and had a blast at the full moon party and would love to go again cause I know my way around that island now so well (love magic mountain!! and I don't know who the hell jacky is but he sure does run quite a few pharmacies there lmao) but just feel like trying something different this time around.