IMPORTANT NOTE: Owing to frequent changes to passport and visa regulations, travellers to Thailand are advised to check current regulations with the relevant Consulate (or Consular section at Embassy) prior to travel.
RESTRICTED ENTRY: Entry may be refused to people with long, untidy-looking hair who are dressed in an manner considered by the authorities to be 'hippyish' or offensive. You should try not to give the authorities any reason to refuse you entry to Thailand (it’s a long way to go just to be sent home on the next flight) – see Information for travellers to Thailand)
PASSPORTS: All nationalities require valid passports; it is a requirement that they are valid for six months beyond period of intended stay. Travellers entering Thailand are required to prove they have sufficient funds to cover the length of their stay, and should hold documentation for return/onward travel
VISA REQUIREMENTS: Visas are not required for travel by EEC Passport holders for periods of 30 days or less. For periods longer than 30 days a visa must be obtained in advance. (For other nationalities please see Information for travellers to Thailand).
Before travel all travellers/nationalities should read: Information for travellers to Thailand
VACCINATIONS
Please check with your medical advisor, but as a guide:
|
(with acknowledgments to The Centre for Tropical Medicine, Oxford)
BOOKING YOUR FLIGHT
The Monastery is closed to new admittances from 16th March each year for Tudong. Thamkrabok re-opens its doors to addicts and visitors from 5th May each year.
If affordable and possible, you should buy a direct flight to Bangkok. Try not to buy a very cheap flight that may involve a stopover or change of airplane on route. Your goal is to keep your total travelling time from home to the Monastery as short as reasonably possible.
If flying to Thailand, you should try to arrive in Bangkok BEFORE noon (12:00). This is to ensure that you will get to the Monastery in time for Sajja (the sacred vow) at 16:00 and your first treatment at 17:00. This advice cannot be emphasised enough... if you get to Thamkrabok after 17:00 you will have to wait 24 hours or longer before you can take the medicine.
PACKING LIST
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
SELF-MEDICATION BEFORE DEPARTURE
You are not going to Thamkrabok Monastery to 'give up' drugs but you are going there to stop taking drugs. There is a difference. By now, you must have already made up your mind to get clean so there is no point in any last 'party' or 'binge' or 'treats' that all carry the risk overdose or worse.
Don't do anything stupid in your home country that will stop you travelling to Thailand and don't do anything on the journey that will stop you getting into Thailand. If you turn up stoned or drunk or if you just look intoxicated they will just put you straight back on an aeroplane home.
You should have been cutting down your use of drugs and/or alcohol before leaving for Thailand. If you do this there will be less risk of you getting arrested before you leave home etc; there will be less risk of you being turned away and sent home by Thai Immigration Officials etc; and your journey and detoxification treatment at Thamkrabok will be a whole lot easier.
Take your last hit before leaving home or on your journey to the airport. Dispose of any drug paraphernalia sensibly and safely. Just take enough to get you from home to Thailand. Do not even think about taking ANY drugs into Thailand.
Do not drink alcohol on the journey unless absolutely necessary. ALCOHOLICS should have cut down or stopped drinking completely before travelling to Thailand.
BEFORE and DURING YOUR JOURNEY
You should avoid any drinks with caffeine (Coke, Pepsi, Tea and Coffee) for a couple of weeks BEFORE leaving for Thailand; throughout your treatment and for several weeks after getting home after detox.
In you hand luggage you should keep a change of cloths (or at least a change of underwear) and a toilet roll. Some journeys can be delayed and withdrawal symptoms can set in all too quickly. Also, keep some plastic bags and tissues handy in case you are travel sick.
ON ARRIVAL IN THAILAND
Once you arrive at Bangkok Airport you will need to get to the Monastery as quickly as possible. Please don't think about chasing that one last hit... it may turn out to be your last! Just get yourself to Thamkrabok. Follow this link for some advice and directions for getting to Thamkrabok.
It is possible to arrange for the Monastery to send a car to collect you. Just e-mail Mae Shee Rambhai (rambhais@hotmail.com) for details and costs.
ACCOMMODATION
The facilities provided at the Monastery are “Thai style” and are basic even by local standards. You should remember that the facilities were built for Thai addicts, so do not expect to find European style bathrooms and comforts. For at least the first five days you will be in a compound with other addicts. Your conduct and response to treatment will be closely monitored.
CLOTHING
It is recommended that you spend up to a maximum of 28 days at the Monastery, (the minimum stay should not be less than 10 days), depending upon flight schedules etc. Whilst you are there you are required to wear the clothing that will be provided to you. Therefore you only need bring travelling clothes with you. We suggest that you bring underwear and just one change of clothes. Some addicts have recommended that long socks be packed to wear in the early mornings and evenings when mosquitoes are most active.
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
TOILETRIES
We suggest that you bring a toilet bag containing only essentials for your personal hygiene including soap, towel, and toothpaste (and mouthwash to use after vomiting).
PLEASE NOTE: ALL CONSUMABLES SUCH AS TOOTHPASTE, MOUTHWASH etc MUST BE NEW, BRANDED & IN THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING WITH SEALS UNBROKEN! ALL CONSUMABLES MUST BE ALCOHOL FREE.
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
INSECT REPELLENT
Whatever the time of year, mosquitoes are an ever-present nuisance in Thailand. It is essential that you take some repellent (such as ‘Jungle Gel’) and bite cream (such as ‘Stingo’) available from BOOTS or any other pharmacist in the UK.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL CONSUMABLES SUCH AS TOOTHPASTE, MOUTHWASH etc MUST BE NEW, BRANDED & IN THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING WITH SEALS UNBROKEN! ALL CONSUMABLES MUST BE ALCOHOL FREE.
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
CASH and VALUABLES
You will be provided with a security facility on arrival. As will be made clear to you; you will not be permitted to leave the Monastery during the course of treatment.
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
DRUGS
The law in Thailand is very strict and the penalties for the possession of drugs are harsh. Your treatment commences immediately on your arrival. We can assure you that you will not need that fix. Remember that the treatment you will receive is radical; you will not suffer from the usual withdrawal symptoms to the same degree associated with other forms of treatment.
PLEASE NOTE: ALL CONSUMABLES SUCH AS TOOTHPASTE, MOUTHWASH etc MUST BE NEW, BRANDED & IN THE ORIGINAL PACKAGING WITH SEALS UNBROKEN! ALL CONSUMABLES MUST BE ALCOHOL FREE.
DEHYDRATION
In order to address the problem of dehydration caused by vomiting and the subsequent loss of sodium and potassium, it is recommended that you eat bananas and consume fresh fruit drinks, particularly tomato juice. (NB: Cottage cheese & bananas mixed has been found to relieve depression).
COMMUNICATION
For the duration of the course, you must accept complete isolation from the outside world. In an emergency your relatives and friends may make contact the Monastery: -
|
LEISURE TIME
Your treatment will be concentrated during the first five days of your stay at the Monastery; thereafter you will have a lot of free time during which you must remain at the Monastery. If you wish you are welcome to bring reading/writing materials with you. Please do not bring expensive consumer goods with you, as you will not be allowed to take them into the Treatment Compound. However, a cheap CD or Tape player is acceptable. You may also wish to consider a cheap or disposable camera to record your treatment.
Some suggestions for what you should take with you - see Addicts Packing List.
PHYSICAL EXERCISE and COMMUNITY WORK
After the first five days of treatment you will be expected to partake in the various community works around the monastery including general cleaning duties, sweeping, kitchen work etc. If you are an opiate user you are encouraged to partake in as much physical exercise as possible up to your pain threshold to encourage your body’s natural production of endorphins.
THE MONASTERY RULES
You are expected to comply with the Thamkrabok Monastery rules of behaviour and respect the views and beliefs of others during your stay.
THE TREATMENT at THAMKRABOK
Following arrival at Thamkrabok Monastery the procedures are as follows:
1) All new arrivals are processed through the Clinic Reception Centre.
a) Admission forms are completed and signed.
b) All valuables are taken for safekeeping.
c) All clothing is taken and stored, treatment clothing is issued.
2) All new arrivals are required to take their vow before a Buddha image. These vows are recited in Sanskrit, which will be translated for the addicts on request.
3) For the first five days you may be restricted to one room. This room holds up to thirty addicts undergoing the primary herbal treatment.
4) Each addict is allocated sleeping area; a sleeping mat and blanket will be provided. (However, we suggest you take your own blanket and recommend a double sleeping bag liner or cotton sheet folded and sewn to form a liner).
5) During the treatment all male addicts are required to remain in this room and are expected to behave themselves. Should they become violent or aggressive they are likely to be restrained. During the stay in this room no outside contact is permitted. This area is off limits to visitors except the escort that has accompanied the addicts to the Thamkrabok Monastery. All addicts having made a commitment to complete the programme are required to do so regardless of how much they may object. If you promise to stay for 21 days then you are expected to remain at the Monastery for a minimum period of 21 days.
6) Treatment commences with the first issue of herbal medicine. This is taken in a group of new arrivals, generally in the early evening with the moral support of other addicts that have recently completed the treatment. The treatment induces projectile vomiting for five to ten minutes, which is used to purge the body of toxins.
7) The second to fifth herbal treatments are taken on consecutive days at 05.00 pm each evening. The majority of addicts undergoing this phase of the treatment tend to sleep throughout most of the first five days.
8) Thai style meals are provided throughout your stay at Thamkrabok. However, you may experience a lack of appetite during the first five days. This is normal and not a cause for alarm, as your appetite will soon return.
9) Each day all addicts are taken for an herbal steam bath (sauna), this is an integral part of the treatment and is continued for a further seven to ten days after the completion of the herbal medicine treatment.
10) After the herbal medicine treatment you are then relocated into the compound. This is a larger area where you have more freedom to move around. Should you misbehave in the compound you are liable to be returned to the room.
11) All addicts are provided with vouchers to purchase food and drinks from the canteen inside the compound, where they remain until their discharge after having successfully completed the full treatment programme.
12) On their return home ex addicts are required to follow a sensible nutritious diet regime for a least two to three weeks to give their bodies an opportunity to adjust to the changes brought about by their treatment at Thamkrabok. This includes the following requirements:
a) Minimise taking caffeine in any form, tea, coffee and cola should be avoided.
b) Alcohol should not be taken in any form.
c) Avoid very cold or very hot drinks of any kind.
13) Conditions at Thamkrabok are primitive and despite the advice given to addicts prior to their arrival most are shocked at the living conditions encountered. It must be stressed that the Thamkrabok Treatment Centre was established to treat Thai nationals and the facilities provided are poor even by their standards. What would be considered acceptable conditions of personal hygiene are difficult to maintain and remain the personal responsibility of each individual addict.
14) In response to criticism of the conditions it must be stated that Thamkrabok is not a Holiday Camp or a Resort. It is the most successful Drug Detoxification Clinic in the world despite the poor conditions that exist. Nobody is admitted to Thamkrabok without their being advised of the prevailing conditions and having a need for the services that it provides.
REINFORCING YOUR COMMITMENT
No treatment available for Drug Addiction can guarantee success; the programme provided at Thamkrabok ensures that on discharge from the Monastery the ex-addict is totally free of their addiction having been free of drug use for the term of their stay at Thamkrabok.
It goes without saying that if an ex-addict returns to his or her previous life without making any changes they are extremely vulnerable to return to drug dependence, particularly where their associates, friends or family members are still using drugs.
Thamkrabok Monastery will accept no responsibility where an ex-addict returns to his or her previous habit after returning from Thailand.
Therefore, preparations for the return of the ex-addict must be carefully planned and they must include the support of family and friends. A total change of environment for a period will always be a favoured reinforcement whilst the body and mind adjusts to it’s drug free state.
The inner strengths of each individual returning from Thamkrabok may vary dramatically but many realise that their lives have been on hold whilst they have been addicted, and go forward with no further external assistance.
Others may feel the need for continued assistance in the form of counselling either individually or in groups. If required this can be arranged on your return home through your medical practitioner or local drugs support groups, or in a small way via the Thamkrabok Support Group & Message Forum.
---ooOoo---