Psylo Posted July 3, 2011 Incidentally, the Sunset Bar on the Island was patroned through the afternoons by the senior cop in town, So yea, there's no doubt they're getting a handsome cut from the drug sales. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 3, 2011 Ya a couple leaves would be nice while getting off the plane to normalize hot tropics in the summer lol. we shall see, i will pm you about your bro How's your country's controls on bringing plant material back ? In Australia, I'm sure the Quarantine guys at the airport would have a field day, and at the very least delay you for many hours. Same too with plants in the post (assuming only - I have never tried bringing a plant in from overseas). Through the mail customs are real good at catching plants and seeds. they dont really give 2 shits waht it is, but they do car ethat it at least has a phytosanitary certificate. if ti doesnt and they catch it they send 2 letters telling you to come get it (and sort out paperwork) or they destroy it and thats teh end of it. so its easy, btu they ar good at sniffing out plants. the airport here, is fucking ridiculous!!! thats why i brought the kratom through in my backpack the first time...you can walk through customs here with a white powder stache, bloodshot eyes and a pitcher of beer in your hands and customs would pass you through. they just dont check much through the airport...the worry is Thai side....here they only care about plant pests, we are more or less free to grow things here otherwise. Watch out in Malaysia - I have always been of the opinion that the cops there are hard to buy. Probably because theyre on a decent legitimate salary. I agree completely. been to both parts and got that distinct feeling in both of them. they are more "westernized" in a sense they are less like "street crooks" and more like political tools lol. I will see how VV goes. Laos prison is not at all appealing, so every time i get excited im followed by a wave of paranoia...see when we get there I like psylos advice of carrying large notes in case of a run in though. better to loose a couple bills than everything, including your freedom. then my wife says "Why risk it, is it really worth it?" she dont get it. BUT it seems it does grow around bangkok and also Ratchaburi. I have been looking at some topo maps of Ratchaburi and have a good idea of where may possibly have them, fingers crossed but i have low hopes as most/all is probably on farms, and if its illegal there amy be some form of protection i dont care to interfere with. So we have sealed the deal on our itinerary. only a few days in cambodia a week and change in laos, week in burma (visa pending and the rest in thai. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 10, 2011 as a slight update we are now planning a 4 day stint in the south of Thailand. But my wife wants to go to one of the islands there (of course, the crowded ones...) so i doubt very much there is kratom...but? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 10, 2011 as a slight update we are now planning a 4 day stint in the south of Thailand. But my wife wants to go to one of the islands there (of course, the crowded ones...) so i doubt very much there is kratom...but? Phuket or Ko Samui? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 11, 2011 wife wnats both those, i want anywhere else...but i think my wife is going to beat me on that one cause she REALLY wants to go to one of those, she seems more into phuket. i am thinking phuket would have a better chance of kratom seen how close it is to mainland and its size. you know if its very mountainous there and forested? google earth shows it as very very developed...? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) You catch the boat to Ko Samui at Surat Thani. Surat Thani Province is known to have kratom. Remember reading of a guy, from where I don't know, visiting there and finding it being openly sold in Muslim markets. Google Surat Thani and kratom and you'll find a lot of info. I mentioned young Muslim men mixing kratom with cough syrup down south, well they're now making this concoction called 4x100. It consists of boiled kratom leaves, cough syrup, coca cola and ice. It's all the rage it seems and the authorities are in a tizzy. Probably won't see kratom in any open markets these days. Edited July 12, 2011 by tuamai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) very cool, cheers for that. i have now opened a flood gate of info, adn am getting excited that i can actually find it. looking at the topo maps i have of the area, phuket seems alittle seperated by some mountains, wonder if they are high enough to limit its spread accross them...? thinking now we will hit up ko samui...maybe both if we care to spend all our thai time down south. how safe do you find it around thre? not the island but the mainland part, for white people? i am always told its dangerous due to muslim fighting and that. i have been to extreme northern malaysia and it was jsut fine, but that was in 2009 and malaysia seem smore docile anyway. i wouldnt mind renting a motor cycle and cycling around Surut Thani down to Krabi...you think thats a safe venture or maybe pass on it? EDIT: holy mother of christ i am jsut rading about Khao Sok National Park, fuck the islands i wanna go there. looks like our thai time is south only lmao. Edited July 11, 2011 by kadakuda Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Psylo Posted July 11, 2011 Don't try to squeeze too much in. Well this is my travel mind anyway. It's more enriching to spend more time at fewer places, get to know locals and chill out (it's a holiday after all) rather than zipping around and constantly being on the road just so you can say you have passed through a region. I had a mate who liked to plan these elaborate itineraries to cover great tracks of countries, and more than once I simply let him go off on his ritalin-fuelled pointless journey and meet with him a few weeks down the track at an agreed location. Kadakuda, are you 'white people' ? I had it in my head that you were Taiwanese ! No idea where that came from LOL. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 12, 2011 very cool, cheers for that. i have now opened a flood gate of info, adn am getting excited that i can actually find it. looking at the topo maps i have of the area, phuket seems alittle seperated by some mountains, wonder if they are high enough to limit its spread accross them...? thinking now we will hit up ko samui...maybe both if we care to spend all our thai time down south. how safe do you find it around thre? not the island but the mainland part, for white people? i am always told its dangerous due to muslim fighting and that. i have been to extreme northern malaysia and it was jsut fine, but that was in 2009 and malaysia seem smore docile anyway. i wouldnt mind renting a motor cycle and cycling around Surut Thani down to Krabi...you think thats a safe venture or maybe pass on it? EDIT: holy mother of christ i am jsut rading about Khao Sok National Park, fuck the islands i wanna go there. looks like our thai time is south only lmao. Haven't been down those parts since the 1980's, but never had any problems at all. The Muslims down along the border with Malaysia have been acting up for hundreds of years and seem to be now as they are everywhere else. Most of Thailand is Buddhist and are some of the nicest people I have ever met anywhere in the world. That's why I go back there nearly every year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 12, 2011 I hear ya psilo. Our main trip is going to be in burma (visas passed) and laos. We are only doing angkor in cambodia, will return there antoher year for a longer trip. Thailand we were just leaving as a cushion country. spend what we dont spend in other countries there. My wife scrapped all my previous plans in thailand and said she wanted to go to at least one island, fair enough. Now i foudn this park. so looks like 1.5 weeks in burma/laos each at a couple places we like, 2 days in angkor then the rest as we see fit. laos might be 2 weeks, see how we like it. our plans are loose, as always. we only book ahead for our first flight, after that is improvise with certain must go to spots. Quite often we do 1 month cover large area trips then do smaller 1-2 week trips throughout the year when work permits to specific areas we have found and loved. BUt i am not the sit down kind of person, i hate staying still and not going out somewhere....so if there is no forest to walk in or streams to swim in, i dont stay long lol. no nature no time investment. ya im tall white n hairy. I am frighteninglytouristy looking, jesus i laugh at myself when i go by a mirror. my wife is taiwanese though, and that is where we live. one great advantage is i cn fly around SE Asia pretty much anywhere for 300-600 return seems the biggest areas in se asia are the ones that surround malasia/indonesia with the muslims...just weird. takes 2 to fight, so i suspect its not all one sided. not my business anyway, but i wouldnt mind avoiding a kidnapping or school shooting wherever possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted July 13, 2011 Hi Kada, i finally remembered posting some info about how to ID some Mitragynas. Unfortunately, i hadnt anything on speciosa though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bℓσωηG Posted July 14, 2011 not in pattaya but a fuckin good place to visit lmfao Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) Found this on youtube recently and thought you might find it interesting:A Brief History of Kratom www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO604vjQklc The rope is a little over done though. They don't hang people in Thailand. They use machine guns instead. Edited July 17, 2011 by tuamai Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 17, 2011 well that is comforting. I read a pdf by some form of organization in Thailand talking about reform of some kind and gave a table of quantity/action and the penalty involved, they didnt list death penalty for kratom though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 17, 2011 With all the other drugs available in Thailand, kratom is pretty low on the list. As I mentioned earlier, it carried a 500 baht fine per leaf when i was there last year. When it was made illegal in 1943, I wonder if the invading Japanese army had anything to do with it? May not be a good idea to have to fight Thai rebels jacked up on kratom! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted July 25, 2011 Searching the internet a bit to find a Japanese connection to making kratom illegal during WWII. Turns out the Thai government made kratom illegal at that time because so many opium users switched to kratom because the Thai government made taxes on opium, which was legal then, ridiculously high. The Thai gov.'t was loosing tax revenue on opium, so they made kratom illegal to make people go back to opium and increase tax revenue!! http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/kratom-briefing-dlr13.pdf Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foo Posted July 25, 2011 My good lord, i think i may die there from OD. have you been there Psylo Dread ? I have been told to avoid there (Vang Vieng) because its apparently easy to get ripped off (being a tourist). You just totally made me replan this trip though! Ive been the Vang Vieng. Easy to get ripped off if your an idiot and the place atracts many. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted July 26, 2011 Thats strange and oddly expected lol. Thanks for the heads up eatfoo. ripped off as in overcharged or ripped doff as in the magic mushrooms aren't magic and the opium balls are really just grease left in the sun too long? I am fairly decent at mushroom/weed, but i wouldnt know opium well. I dont mind paying, it cant be more expensive than where i am from. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
opiumfreak Posted August 9, 2011 kratom? I waNT to go to laos tell me about the bars there? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted August 10, 2011 Not many in Laos. If you want bars, go to Thailand! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted August 11, 2011 found 2 species of Mitragyna now in both laos and cambodia. Vang Vieng is pretty touristy now. anyway gotta run but Mitragyna are abound and very plentiful here. Much different forest types than what i saw M. speciosa before. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tuamai Posted August 14, 2011 Sounds like you're having quite the trip Kadakuda. I found the article I mentioned earlier about kratom titled:"Kratom: Thailand's Secret of the South" in a 2003 copy of the Entheogen Review. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted August 22, 2011 thanks bro. i just got to phuket after a long "interesting" trip from burma. so i will give that a read tonight and start searching tomorrow Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Evil Genius Posted August 22, 2011 Very nice, Kada. They arent flowering by chance? Seeds would be awesome. bye Eg Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kadakuda Posted August 22, 2011 yes, they were and i collected some very immature seed pods. I have made about 60 or so plant collections, but some died and i lost almost all my cambodia/laos collections due to a slight substance use issue. I have a bag of Mitragyna pods though, but i am doubtful they were mature enough i will post pics when i get back regardless. Also found some other fun plants. but wont post everything because we keep crossing all these borders with them in our backpacks and i am getting far too paranoid for my own good. tomorrow we will be hiking around making some colelctions hopefully on Phuket. fingers crossed for something fun so far not much scootering around today along roadsides pretending to enjoy beach views with the wife. forests are so much more fun than a beach lol. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
