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  • AADD Moderators: swilow | Vagabond696

Drugs situation in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand

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Thailand is the most expencive of the 3 nations, is the toughest as far as policing and the only 1 of the 3 that sets up foreigners via undercover stings for petty amounts. Pharmaceuticals are a bust in Thailand as well. The only plus is that amongst the 3 only Thailand has methadone lest you pick up a massive habit (Cambodia has been promising methadone for almost 4 years now).

Laos is a bummer as well. There is a single dusty town that has developed as a free for all zone, with no police hassles but incredibly over priced and very low quality drugs. The only plus in Laos is its cannabis. If you buy cannabis in Thailand or Cambodia it almost always comes from Laos (same for opium in Cambodia, it is coming down from Laos).

The best of the 3 is Cambodia. The belief that everything is OTC is false. You can get paracetemol/codeine combos (30mg), a gout medication using 11.5 mgs of powdered opium, most any Benzo but probably the best OTC is DHC (Dihydrocodeine) which is a codeine analogue with no metabolic ceiling. To put it in simple terms, codeine has a ceiling of 600 mgs (on average). Go above 600 and you will feel nothing. DHC is not only stronger than codeine, but there is no limit on dosing.

Now, you can, with some exertion find better stuff but it is under the table and not as easy as one imagines. You can get oxycodone ("Oxycontin"), Mundipharma (French brand) in 5mg capsules, instant release, but it will set you back a pretty penny. Heroin is much cheaper. Morphine can only be had in hospitals thanks to ignorant Westerners lapping it up like candy (until 2005 everything truly was OTC) and falling like flies).

If you go for Rx, research the French name of the substance, as well as French brands (codeine is locally branded but the best is actually Australian). DHC is 'Dicodin' brand, 60 mg caplets sold in complete packages. Pricing can vary, the most expensive being the shoppes on Monviong.

Opium is easily available but only in season. Harvest Season in Laos begins mid-March and by the end of March its in Phnom Pehn, annd to a lesser degree Siem Reap and Sinhoukville (the only 3 cities with any kind of scene though you can get heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis in Poi Pet as well).

Heroin is dirt cheap if you do your homework. I don't know how generalised I can get with locales here but will simply say that there is a backpacker district in Pehn, just as in Bangkok, etc. There you can find anything but quality is hit and miss and it is very over priced. Heroin is simply called "China White," and only in English. Methamphetamine comes in 2 forms, the most common is Yaa Maa (in Thailand it is Yaa Baa). Roughly 40% pure, filled with perfume and colouring it looks very much like Skittles candy. However,it is almost always smoked. Prices are lower than in Thailand thanks to the latest Thai campaign (once again execuring addicts). The better form is called "Yaa Ice," and is pharmaceutical grade crystals specially made for smoking. Ice actually takes a bit of effort to find where as Yaa Maa, like heroin, can be found in minutes.

Opium and cannabis are usually sold in 5 gramme baggies and the prices are very good by Western standards. In that backpacking district there isn't any police action and "Happy Pizza" (pizza topped with cannabis) is sold openly though the days of cannabis being sold in street markets for 20 US per kilo have long been gone.
 
^ Cambodia sounds like my kinda place. :)

Thanks for all the info, and it's good to see your posts again!
 
Thailand is the most expencive of the 3 nations, is the toughest as far as policing and the only 1 of the 3 that sets up foreigners via undercover stings for petty amounts. Pharmaceuticals are a bust in Thailand as well. The only plus is that amongst the 3 only Thailand has methadone lest you pick up a massive habit (Cambodia has been promising methadone for almost 4 years now).

Laos is a bummer as well. There is a single dusty town that has developed as a free for all zone, with no police hassles but incredibly over priced and very low quality drugs. The only plus in Laos is its cannabis. If you buy cannabis in Thailand or Cambodia it almost always comes from Laos (same for opium in Cambodia, it is coming down from Laos).

The best of the 3 is Cambodia. The belief that everything is OTC is false. You can get paracetemol/codeine combos (30mg), a gout medication using 11.5 mgs of powdered opium, most any Benzo but probably the best OTC is DHC (Dihydrocodeine) which is a codeine analogue with no metabolic ceiling. To put it in simple terms, codeine has a ceiling of 600 mgs (on average). Go above 600 and you will feel nothing. DHC is not only stronger than codeine, but there is no limit on dosing.

Now, you can, with some exertion find better stuff but it is under the table and not as easy as one imagines. You can get oxycodone ("Oxycontin"), Mundipharma (French brand) in 5mg capsules, instant release, but it will set you back a pretty penny. Heroin is much cheaper. Morphine can only be had in hospitals thanks to ignorant Westerners lapping it up like candy (until 2005 everything truly was OTC) and falling like flies).

If you go for Rx, research the French name of the substance, as well as French brands (codeine is locally branded but the best is actually Australian). DHC is 'Dicodin' brand, 60 mg caplets sold in complete packages. Pricing can vary, the most expensive being the shoppes on Monviong.

Opium is easily available but only in season. Harvest Season in Laos begins mid-March and by the end of March its in Phnom Pehn, annd to a lesser degree Siem Reap and Sinhoukville (the only 3 cities with any kind of scene though you can get heroin, methamphetamine and cannabis in Poi Pet as well).

Heroin is dirt cheap if you do your homework. I don't know how generalised I can get with locales here but will simply say that there is a backpacker district in Pehn, just as in Bangkok, etc. There you can find anything but quality is hit and miss and it is very over priced. Heroin is simply called "China White," and only in English. Methamphetamine comes in 2 forms, the most common is Yaa Maa (in Thailand it is Yaa Baa). Roughly 40% pure, filled with perfume and colouring it looks very much like Skittles candy. However,it is almost always smoked. Prices are lower than in Thailand thanks to the latest Thai campaign (once again execuring addicts). The better form is called "Yaa Ice," and is pharmaceutical grade crystals specially made for smoking. Ice actually takes a bit of effort to find where as Yaa Maa, like heroin, can be found in minutes.

Opium and cannabis are usually sold in 5 gramme baggies and the prices are very good by Western standards. In that backpacking district there isn't any police action and "Happy Pizza" (pizza topped with cannabis) is sold openly though the days of cannabis being sold in street markets for 20 US per kilo have long been gone.

Good post.

however, because i am a big lover of Laos, I have to disagree town you speak of is a 'dusty little town'. Its set amoungst some of the most beautiful scenary I have ever seen. huge caste mountains either side of you, and river running though the middle with rice paddies, little shacks and jungle all around. You are right about it been a free for all, in that drugs can be consumed in the bar/resturant and police will not arrest you. I found the mushroom shakes to be piss weak, even compared to Thailand's. The opium tea was nice, and the opium in Laos generally was excellent and cheap. better than what I tried in Vietnam. still never got the art of smoking it how I see it done in the movies, and had to mix it with tobacoo to get it to smoke right. It was funny catching a slowboat down the Mekong in Laos and seeing the odd opium poppy pod floating downstream in the water.

Just be warned in this town in you are caught with drugs outside of the resturants and bars you will have to deal with the police. drugs can be found all across Laos, marijuana and opium been the biggest. Heroin and Ice/ya ba are around but I was never directly offered it.

Cambodia is def the place where drugs are offered alot, and in plentiful and cheap. That area backpacking area in Phnomn Penn has alot of drug dealers that will hassle you, and drugs are often sold out of hotels. harder drugs are more prevelent in Cambodia than other countries. I found the weed in cambodia to be pretty good and nearly everywhere, the ice is pretty damn good too and the price is definately right=D drug dealers will find you in this country. if your white, young and male (to a lesser extent female) you are going to get fucking annoyed been hassled to buy drugs or pussy.
 
Can you get busted for any recreational pharm in Thailand/South East Asia in general or are some OK? I am most likely heading over to this region later on in the year and would love a greater insight into this topic.

I really do not plan to indulge in illicit drugs whatsoever but the confidence in my ability to do so was fairly largely hinged on the availability of abusable OTC meds and cheap alcohol. I see someone mentioned rx amphetamines are illegal but is this the same case with benzo's and other sleeping tablets? What about panadeine forte/codeine based medications and other weak opiates? It would be nice to atleast be able to perform an extraction but if its illegal I am probably as well to just do cheap hammer.

Also, assuming all prescription drugs are illegal, are the penalties as harsh as for illicits or would you atleast get off lighter? Would seeing a doctor to obtain a prescription legitimise my possession of abusable medications or am I just as likely to get fucked over with a prescription?

Sorry, not trying to derail the thread I just didn;t feel my question(s) were unique enough to warrant their own thread.

BTW psytaco I am kinda surprised to read you thought the bud was alright, are you much of a smoker? I have always read and heard that the majority of weed over there was shite, and you had to sniff out quality buds.
 
When I was in Phuket last year an English guy in the hotel next door was arrested for being in possession of benzos. It wasnt surprising that he got arrested as he was acting like a complete muppet when drinking but it surprised me what he got done for. We all assumed as we bought these drugs from the chemist we were ok. Some panadiene forte and vals to cure a hangover was a fun way to start the day.
 
It really isn't right that you can get done for pharmaceuticals but the pharmacies seemingly have no problems from law enforcement selling them to you. I wonder how many people have done time in Thai jails due to a prick pharmacist looking to make a few extra bucks telling them that valium or whatever was completely legal, I would guess a few...

Does anyone have any idea on the prescriptions thing? Since you can buy pharms without one I don't anticipate a great deal of difficulty in obtaining a prescription but my question is are they valid or will the cops just wipe their arse with it? I have no qualms about seeing a doctor first if it means I can take benzodiazepines without fear of prosecution.
 
It is illegal to have benzodiazepines without a prescription in Thailand. In a fucked up situation though, the Public Health Authority of Phuket encourages pharmacies to sell valium to tourists even though the police will still charge you for it.

Soma is OTC there, as are Lyrica and Neurontin if you are into those but they aren't that great.

Cambodia sounds like the place to go for pharms, d_m. ;)
 
I am pretty sure you can pseudoephedrine over there, just that pure pseudoephedrine products are hospital only medicines. Pseudoephedrine in a pharmacy is combined with one other ingredient at minimum.

Pretty sure years afgo there was a pseudo only product. white tablets all I remember, was the meth cooks choice and most likely marketed more towards smurfers than people with colds as it was not popular, advertised and wasn't at every chemist. A lot of smaller chemists only 2 years ago stocked them. Cant remember the name!! Anyone got some old MIMs
 
Drug mentor: I don't smoke much these days, but used to alot back in the day. In cambodia, I didn't buy off the motorcycle guys but instead went to the bars on a well known beach which would sell you the choice of normal weed or hydro. I went with the hydro and the quality was as good as Australias. They're normal bud is rubbish, as it is across south east asia, particularly vietnam. Just to everyone reading this, buying drugs from resturants and bars is still very much illegal in these countries so you can still be busted.

As for the pharm drugs. You can't get codeine products in thailand unless you go to the hospital or I guess get a script. i was told this by a pharmacist in bangkok after asking for some due to having a really bad ear infection (good old water fights in Song Kran).

I never tried to get valium in thailand but I think it easily done. Very easy to get in other countries in the region. yeah amphetamines can be bought in some pharmacies, but you have to search it out. So little point in buying psuedo.

As per their illegality, I am sure they are still counted as illegal, and possession without a script would be illegal. However harsh thai laws are, they still don't see all drugs as equal. marijuana possession is not the same as possession of ice or heroin, and the law would go easier on you in comparison. I imagine this the case for pharm drugs, but would depend on the pharm. A bottle of morphine or amphetamine tablets is going to be seen as alot more serious than a couple of valium.

i imagine a few valium would just involve the police intimidating you a bit and then asking you if you would like to pay a fine now rather than go to jail (read bribe). I'm sure they would try and get as much out of you as possible, but realisticly you shouldn't have to pay much. not in the thousand plus dollars a yaba or ecstacy pill will cost you.

I walked around with valium and the like in Laos and Cambodia. these places have a more relaxed police presence and police aren't in the habit of messing with foreigners as much. Thailand is a different story and police will occassionally shake you down for stupid shit to get a bit of money out of you. Most of it is harmless and involves you parting with $10 to $50. not wearing a helmet when riding a motorcycle, speeding, littering. its also not uncommon for you to be searched for no good reason. There are also check points all around bangkok and on intercity highways where they will stop buses or other vehicles and search them. I have yet to see them search more than a few bags in the bottom of a tourist bus, but when me and some friends drove around thailand (I have a mate who lives there). We were stopped and searched a few times, although it was just a quick look around the car and empty your pockets sort of thing. In areas near the borders expect alot more checkpoints, ditto around the islands particularly koh phagnan (due to all the drug use) and on the roads that lead to the south where the islands are.

in 2008 I didn't see any of this in Laos and Cambodia, and it was a rareity in Vietnam. The police in these countries seem to concern themselves more with local matters and generally leave foreigners be.
 
Hello Blonde, yeah, don't have much patience for the drug forums, enough back and forth in CE and P haha.

DrugMentor: You can be executed for codeine cough syrup in Thailand (though highly unlikely). Here in the Philippines 10 grammes of poppy seeds could get you the Lethal Injection until it was done away with in 2008, still you can get Natural Life.

Marijuana is executable depending upon the amount in Thailand, Mynammar (Burma), China (not Hong Kong), Malaysia, Singapore and Indomesia. All drugs are the same. Laos executes but only for trafficking, Vietnam also executes. Cambodia though is the safest. You can get out of a murder there for 10K US and a lot of back and forth. The only place that is unsafe is the Airport in the capitol as far as interdiction.

As for the APAP/codeine tabs you asked about, they require a script everywhere but Cambodia. In the capitol little Rxs are on every main street, just about every block. People live in their stores, the store fronts are caged at night but in daytime and early evening the storefronts are open air and have large glass fronted cases along the fronts. They have green or blue swiss crosses on signs (the set up is the same in Thailand, Nam, Laos,Mynammar and Indonesia). In Cambodia they usually line those cases, at least an entire shelf, with boxes of APAP/codeine. For other stuff you simply write it out in French, though for simple things like codeine, benzos, etc you can write the English versions.

Benzos are also only legal in Cambodia though you CAN get many benzos OTC in Thailand, though technically illegal. Opiates are another thing altogether, need a script.

You need to know that in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia they can demand a urine on the spot (though it usually only happens when they raid clubs). If you refuse, for example in Malaysia, its automatically 14 days in jail and deportation at your own expence. If you give it and test positive you can go to prison.

You will hear people say they have spent 2 years in Bangkok and partied every day of it without a problem but they are lucky fools. Always be aware of where you are.

Me? OK, I live on Mindanao in the Southern Philippines. When I feel the need for a holiday its almost always Cambodia. I am on morphine maintenance (I have a compliant MD and I maintain myself) but know that if I even look high when I fly into Bangkok it can mean jail. I dose on the plane before landing, grab a taxi and fly to Aran and the Cambodian Crossing at Poi Pet. SE Asia is not the wonderland folks imagine it to be. Cambodia is the only decent place for that sort of thing and it will eventually join the rest.
 
So I'm in koh samui now and got a ten pack of blue 10 mg vals for 450 baht no questions asked. Definitly not going to attempt yabs or coke cause all the guys who have offered just look like set up merchants. I am thinking bout some ms contin or dex from the pharmacies as there is one about 200 meters from my hotel and I reckon I could just go straight back and stash in the room, but wh knows.
Anyways does anyone know if you can purchase fits/needles fro
The pharmacies or is that just asking for more trouble?
 
do not get "coke" in these countries, the only people who have access to anything resembling cocaine are higher up the chain, it isn't grown/made here and it is a relatively poor area so cartels aren't going to bring huge amounts

another thing is tramadol is totally otc requiring no prescription in Thailand (equivalent of S3 here). As has been said benzos can be bought without much problem, money talks.

In these countries if you have a decent reliable connection yabaa pills are pretty sweet to smoke, are vary cheap and are bout 20-30% methamphetamine rest caffeine for smoking. great buzz smoked off some foil. Watch out for paraphenalia in Thailand though even turned down lighters and candles raises eyebrows they are very aware of the meth problem in that country. Waste must go down the toilet not in a bin for someone to find if you are in a hotel foil toots etc (call me paranoid but I was trained by a local and went undetected for months on meth though).

However the chance with yabaa that you will get fake pills is high and the purity varies a fair bit. Tuk tuk drivers are notorious for taking your money and giving you squishy fakes, not like the hard brittle real ones though thats not the only test.

As has been said lakeside is where the gear is at in Phnom Penh it is a classic to be sat down in your room upon entering by the hotel staff to find them giving you a verbal drug menu rofl. Before I knew where to go I was going on wild goose chases in tuk tuks actually had locals fire rounds at my presence as a threat/ima rob you and was lucky to have a sympathetic/shumacher tuk tuk driver to get away.

So remember if you go dabling in this in these countries it can turn a relaxing trip into a paranoid tip toe fuk whose around the corner quite easily, be careful.
 
Be sensible, esp in thatland, u dun wana wake up in jail or next to a lady boy with a sore ass.

I thought cambodia n laos has really gud meth, its all made in jungle to make cash for rebel soldigers fighting govts. Also cambodia has or is where safrole trees are also found so pills?
 
I think you mean Burma/Myanmar, apparently that is where a large amount of the methamphetamine is made and yabaa pills pressed, however obviously if this stuff is made in countries like Aus it is made in Laos/Cambodia rest assured and northern parts of Thailand too if remote enough and/or police paid off. Funny alot of heroin is made there too abviously from the opium farms. I went to Myanmar but 80% of the country is off limits to foreigners due to fighting/skirmishes/instability, atrocities the govt doesn't want seen and drug trade/production.

Never came across mdma but never asked, would be around though in the region. To be honest meth and heroin are the biggest ones in the region.
 
^ never got ecstascy in cambodia, when I was there in 2008. I'd heard it was popular to use by wealthy locals, but it was never offered to me.

Weed, opium, yaba, ice, and heroin were regualrly offered in cambodia. That area by the lake your talking about is full of drugs, dealers and drugs being sold in hotels. Plenty of places in downtown Phnom Penn sell a 'happy menu' too. Which they openly advertise.

i know in the popular beach town in cambodia, drugs were regularly sold from bars, not to mention every tuk tuk driver will hassle you constantly to buy drugs.

Spiritfolk: no idea about needles. sorry. I think scripted opiates are alot harder to get in thailand, than other pharms. I know when I had a bad ear ache they wouldn't sell me codeine. needed a script for it.

As with needles and use. remember all they need is suspision to search you in Thailand. You don't have the same rights in that country, and if someone dobs you in about the needles, or your found with needles, the cops will do whatever they can to extort cash out of you or throw you in jail. be very careful.
 
You will find it difficult to find any 'xtc' over in most of those places. They will have meth bomb pills known as 'yabba' though.

You will find a lot of restaraunts still have a 'happy menu.' Just be careful and use your brain :)

your wong mate I went to thailand in december 2010 and the pill I got was wicked like to gear we use to get here in brisbane in the late 90s early 2000s
 
Cambodia is defintely the country in SEA to go if you want to use drugs with little to no hassle form police, and if the police there do hassle you a small bribe will get you out of trouble.It is a very poor nation and basicly tourism ,even "drug tourism" is a needed thing for the nations monetary situation. Thailand is very strict if you are caught, and I went to northen Thailand/burma area about 8+ years ago with a local Thai resident and an american friend from Thailand who was the brother of the local Thai man that took us up into Northern thailand/Burma borderlands area. We were allowed access to an opium growing spot where they grew opium,harvested it and also produced some heroin nearby. I was able to smoke opium there without worry and bought a good amount to smoke while in that area, also got to do some SEA #4 powder heroin , bought 4 grams or so, for only a small amount of money, and it was very pure, snorted it only and got very high..lol..Nowdays Though I would go to Cambodia to do opium,heroin,etc...Even with a Thai local it has gotten very dangerous for an american/white tourist,etc.. to go to the Northern area of Thailand.Even dangerous for a local to go for the most part. All the stuff you want is in Cambodia, Opium,heroin, weed, hash, "xtc" as well although it is a bit harder to find "XTC" there than other drugs,but can be done , and ccoaine is not very available in SEA, and when it is found ,its confined to the wealthy people , so any coke you might find someone selling in SEA to tourists or on the street is cut to low purity and also likely cut with methamphetamine..and coke sells foe high prices there even for shitty puirty stuff..so coke is not what you will find in SEA, opium,hash,heroin,weed,crystal meth, yaba pills and some "XTC" pills of variuos quality.
 
i just got back from thailand and was offered the dodgy weed at patong. looked like muddy brown shit. stayed right away from it. but on koh phi phi we shared a joint of some nice sativa with some south african bloke. was ok nothing special but went well with the awsum sunsets. he was saying on the islands its so relaxed ud have to be smoking it infront of the cop shop to get caught and even then they would prolly just take a bribe (not condoning that) on phi phi we were getting asked by the bar staff if we wanted weed. its everywhere there.
 
Wait until it is periodically raided and the police ask for that urine.
 
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