Southern Thailand’s disturbing drug problem
Ever considered ingesting mosquito repellent? Probably not, but that’s exactly what youths in Southern Thailand are doing in the latest bizarre drug craze to sweep the region. Krathom leaves are a prohibited indigenous plant that people often use as a mild narcotic. There are krathom busts almost every week in Southern Thailand.
Some bright spark came up with the idea of getting his kicks by mixing krathom leaves, cough medicine, mosquito repellent and Coca-Cola into a potent cocktail. It’s known as “four time a hundred” and it’s thought to have originated from the Deep South where it’s widely believed to be a major cause of unrest among Thai youths. The theory is that they use this cocktail and then become insurgents.
Although I’m yet to see proof of this theory, the popularity of this drug among Thais makes me wonder about the effect it has on society.
Even more disturbing is that youths have been upgrading their concoction to “five time a hundred” with the addition of the powder from fluorescent lightbulbs. Apparently they smash the lightbulbs up and collect the powder; you can imagine how dangerous this drug is.
A Kom Chad Luek report quoted a user as saying that the lightbulb powder improved the taste and made him feel “strong”.
Techno’ tags: Thailand, Southern Thailand
September 29th, 2007 at 9:33 am
…the popularity of this drug among Thais makes me wonder about the effect it has on society. Maybe the break down of society has led to this cocktail of doom rather than the already dysfunctional society being affected by it? Haha, I wonder whether officials can give a scheduling to ‘five time a hundred’ to make it apart of the fabled War on Drugs by reasoning, oh! our kids are taking poison.. hmm not anything to do with us; they’re responsible now….. by the way fat cat #2 - when is the air conditioning getting fixed?
September 29th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Thais are always taking something to make themselves feel “stronger” and “invincible”. There are regularly reports in the press quoting Thai men as saying they drink to make them strong and invincible, and the same with yaa baa. Whereas young men in other countries drink to get pissed and behave badly these guys seem to be after respect or confidence. Maybe there is something in the Thai culture that makes them feel insecure about themselves. Or alternatively they’re simply fed-up with life and want some escapism.
Either way, it sounds like a disgusting mix their taking.
September 29th, 2007 at 11:34 am
kertum leaves have been used as traditional medicines and has been used moderately, but I guess some irresponsible individuals trying to make quick money profit from it at the expense of the youth….
October 1st, 2007 at 1:12 am
not sure about if this is the LATEST bizarre drug craze.
last year this article was allover the net, it cames with the splendid headline
“Thai teens get high on cow dung, mosquito coil ash”
it mentioned cheap yaba tablets for 25 baht, that is maybe the “four time a hundred”, and also some other bizarre drug habit - ” Putting fresh cow dung in a plastic bag and inhaling the fumes was another way to get high”
thailand needs a elaborate drug education program. and this starts with the normal doctors. you have just a little cold and they give you many different pills, over medication. you wrote about this before. thence comes the erroneous belief there is a pill for everything. and don’t just punish the addicts, educate them, teach them. i think the user are not fully aware of the danger and the damage these drugs do. send social and prevention worker to school and clubs. look how other countries and societies work on the task to keep the adolescents away from drugs. set up community youth clubs, give them a alternative to spend the spare time. kids do stupid things if you let them alone. give them a helping hand and not a threatening gesture.
okay, there are some rehab projects but not sure if they work efficiently. i once accompany a thai friend with a strong drug problem to go to one of this projects. needs a lot of persuasion from my side to do that first step. but the initial talk with the employee was not going to work at all. the procedure was done in a way as we would talk about opening a bank account or close a telephone contract. maybe the problem here is somehow in thai culture, the concept of Face and the one way style of rote learning without really understanding.
you will not stop them using drugs at all but with education maybe you can achieve a more responsible handling of the consumption. or they will go for the cow dung instead of lightbulb powder. or learn how to prepare a good cup of coffee instead of smoking meth all day. start with coffee in the morning to get your wake up boost and in the evening clean the cat litter pan for send you in sweet dreams.