Sunday, 27 November 2011

Travelling sensibly with psychotropic drugs

While I'm travelling I have to carry my epilepsy medication - Epilim Chrono and Clonazepam. The Thai authorities don't mind the Epilim, but Clonazepam is a benzodiazepine and as such is frowned upon by authorities over here. I have 2 months' worth of the stuff - always some in my day bag in case my big bag gets nicked. I'm pretty careful about them not getting lost or stolen as that would kind of ruin my time here.

So it was with some shock and horror that I realised half my pills that had been in my day bag were missing. I don't usually carry that much with me, but I had been travelling back from Pai and I always halve my stock between big bag and day bag.

Anyway, they weren't there. Where could I have left them?

I checked my big bag, turned my room over and they weren't there. Some flurried texts to Lizi back in Pai and she would go and check various possible places in the morning.

I spent the morning counting pills and working out how long I had to last me - about 20 days so not a tragedy, but still - a pain in the arse and probably a trip to an embassy to pick up the emergency supply waiting with my Mum.

Lizi called and apparently there was a box of pills at the bus station in Chiang Mai. They must have fallen out of my day bag on the winding ride from Pai.

Ace! I finished my omlette, negotiated with a friendly tuk tuk driver, Mr Montree, who would be my drugs runner for the morning.


After getting to the wrong bus station and renegotiating with Mr Montree I started wondering if
a) they actually were my pills and I was getting overexcited
b) any had been nicked.
 


Fascination



I listened to Alphabeat to lift my spirits.











My pills and Mr Montree's above his head.
It worked, because 15 minutes later I was back in possession of an untouched tupperware box full of lovely benzodiazepines. Mr Montree must have thought I just wanted a tour of the town's bus stations, but when I showed him my bounty he understood and showed me a big bag of pills in his tuk tuk that he had to take every day. A bonding moment which I thought might lead to him letting me off the fare. It didn't.




Mr Montree my drugs runner. He was a happy chap but didn't want to smile because he was embarrassed of his bad teeth.

2 comments:

  1. I am Nick's mother. Feel free to send me messages of sympathy. Now going to lie down for a while.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Drug smuggling in Thailand, eh? Have you been reading Bridget Jones?

    ReplyDelete