Thread: Phuket : Kiwi Teen done for Valium

Phuket Gazette is reporting the following

A teenager from New Zealander is stranded in Phuket after being arrested for possession of diazepam pills without a prescription.

A high-ranking source in the Phuket Public Health Office (PPHO) admitted his department permitted pharmacies to sell the drugs, but only in "small" amounts.

“It is illegal to possess prescription drugs without a prescription, but in Phuket we’re not so strict as this is a tourist place,” he said. “We grant permission to pharmacies to sell the drugs, but they need to report to the PPHO first.”

Phuket: Valium bust strands Kiwi teen in Phuket

That article seems quite evasive about the quantity she had. There is a big difference between buying a few for personal use and possessing or moving large quantities.

Originally Posted by BobR

That article seems quite evasive about the quantity she had. There is a big difference between buying a few for personal use and possessing or moving large quantities.

From the link:

he was caught by Kathu Police in possession of a package of diazepam, better known under the trade name ‘Valium’.

Fuckin' hell. Must be quiet for the boys in brown to have to stoop this low...

"A package" can be anything from a single blister pack (10 pills for personal use) to a whole bag of blister packs or bottles (100's for sales or distribution). It's either deliberate vagueness or poor writing.

The times that I've bought it at a pharmacy in Thailand (I really dislike flying), it was no questions asked, couple hundred baht for a ten-pill blister pack.

You would think the amount would be stated, as having a dozen or two to take back to new Zealand is far different than taking a thousand or so - although you would wonder how they could make "the crime" stick, given "the high ranking source" has admitted that anybody can buy it over the counter.

By the sounds of it they are detaining the kid anyway, and won't let him leave the country. I thought they brought in measures recently which allowed people to leave the country while small crimes like this were processed?

Originally Posted by killerbees

The times that I've bought it at a pharmacy in Thailand (I really dislike flying), it was no questions asked, couple hundred baht for a ten-pill blister pack.

I always try and get a couple of Zanex for the long flights and it has been easy in the past but the last time I was treated like a junkie. Maybe they are cracking down.

Originally Posted by killerbees

The times that I've bought it at a pharmacy in Thailand (I really dislike flying), it was no questions asked, couple hundred baht for a ten-pill blister pack.

I buy them for the same reason; it's not so much that I dislike flying (I fly small airplanes) it's just that the 15 hour flights in economy are pure hell and sleeping through that is almost as good as a business class upgrade.

Exactly. One of them main reasons I dislike flying is the discomfort factor. I generally fly cattle class. It doesn't leave me with much wiggle room. I'd much rather sleep through the whole experience. Unfortunately, I can't seem to sleep on planes or buses. I don't know if it's the fact that there are a lot of people around, or that I'm in a chair. I've tried actual sleeping pills but they don't work, just make me groggy and miserable. Xanex or Valium, on the other hand, put me right to sleep for hours at a time. They also conveniently help with my flight anxiety. Only ever take them when traveling though I know some people do eat them like candy.

Originally Posted by malako

although you would wonder how they could make "the crime" stick

They can do anything they want really, especially to someone like a tourist with no contacts or backup in Thailand.

Originally Posted by Beadle

Originally Posted by malako

although you would wonder how they could make "the crime" stick

They can do anything they want really, especially to someone like a tourist with no contacts or backup in Thailand.

They would have no problem making the crime "stick" and neither would any of our Western Countries, and tourist or lack of "backup" has nothing to do with it. If the law forbids possession without a prescription, the fact that "everyone else is doing it" or "a lot of stores sell them over the counter" is completely worthless as a defense and nothing more than an inadmissible opinion if you said it in a courtroom. Fairness and justice have nothing to do with each other, particularly when silly drug laws are concerned.

Yep. The sleeping tablets (especially) are hard to get over the counter these days. They are / were apparently an increasingly-common method of suicide amongst Thais.

What is this "without a prescription" shit.
I have been to a lot of pharmacies here and bought Valium and Xanex and also use Lorazapam every nite anymore.
I went in and asked a druggist about some Valium, he handed me a card of 10-50 mg. I said I didn't need that heavy, so he gave me a card of 5 mg. I took one that night and it made me mean as catshit, so next night I too 1/2 and same thing so I threw em in the trash.
I have taken Xanex twice, it seems OK. but Ativan (US Lorazapam) 1 mg is what i take on a dr advise and I sleep like a baby,, and only prescript you will ever see here is the slip the Dr. gives you to go to the cashier and get what he asks for and pay your bill, no such thing as a prescription as far as I know.

Who has seen a meds bottle with your name on the label with your Dr. name,,dosing directions and a prescript number and date, and a refill date??
I sure as hell have never seen one.

Originally Posted by BobR

"A package" can be anything from a single blister pack (10 pills for personal use) to a whole bag of blister packs or bottles (100's for sales or distribution). It's either deliberate vagueness or poor writing.

BS BobR - it was 10 and we all know it. If it was 100's the BIB would have it laid out with pics and finger pointing going on. The truth of the matter is that the thieving bastids aka the Thai police are suffering in the pocketbook from a next to nothing high tourist season. They can't support all their mia nois, illegal lotteries, and other illegal activities with tourism lower than its been in a couple decades.

Valium is lightweight stuff, must have been a fair few I reckon, unless she was dishing them out to friends needing some help after a night on yaa baa etc or was caught up in one of them night club raids.

Originally Posted by kmart

Yep. The sleeping tablets (especially) are hard to get over the counter these days.

Got Valium in the first pharmacy I tried yesterday, 50 for 200thb.

I used to pay 5bht fir the 5ml yellow ones and 10bht for the blue 10ml ones. Could usually buy them by the dozen - not in cards, they had gigantic plastic jars of them.

I think the reason they are now considered suspicious is because yaba users use Valium to come down - and everyone knows, you should NEVER mix uppers and downers..

Jesus, I had a hell of a time getting anything for the long haul flights I regularly do

A zanex dropped after dinner gets me 6 odd hours sleep. Just great. I slept 8 hours once. Coiuldn't believe it!

I remember detoxing off the booze a few years ago in Bangkok. The pharmacies wouldn't give me any valium or Xanax. I then went to a private hospital that said 'no good to take this'.

End result, I went back on the bottle. Great help that was!

what if they were mixing Valium with coca cola? don't they get a buzz out of that?