BBC Documentary on Pattaya

[spirit_of_town_hall]

I agree in that he seemed to flit about a bit too much, and like you was perplexed at the Ko Pagn Nagn snippet, why should it be any surprise that YaBa was available on Ko Pagn Nagn when he got it in Bkk.

 

 

 

If he had stuck to one facet that would have been better, most crystal meth is produced in Japan and finds its way to USA via Hawaii.

 

 

 

At the end of the day he had a fully expensed trip to Thailand.

 

 

 

STH

[aussiejohn]

I would agree that the programme was rubbish. I could get more drugs at my street corner.Did anyone else hope he got shot in the arse while they were in Burma,so poor was the show? Btw, where's the Pattaya angle as I was hoping to see any bars,for fond memories!!!

[Guest]

"she's been told by her co-workers it'll boost her enjoyment of the impending sex,"

 

 

 

thats damned right - the trip before last i shagged a girl who ws taking yaba (its in my old trip report) - man, she was wild!!! - just gagging for it (sex, not yaba) and sexually insatiable - brilliant

 

 

 

"BTW, that Thai princess who was interviewed is a bit of allright,what a babe."

 

 

 

are you taking the piss? - she looked totally plastic - 100% plastic nose plus dodgy face lift - butt ugly in my book

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

"yaba was, and still is to some extent, promoted as a positive thing, something cool."

 

 

 

i'm sure you won't agree, but after seeing the programme I though yaba WAS actually pretty cool and intend to try some more on my next trip (but not to excess)

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

"are you taking the piss? - she looked totally plastic - 100% plastic nose plus dodgy face lift - butt ugly in my book "

 

 

 

No I ain't taking the fcuking piss,your opinion is your opinion,frigging hell,eye of the beholder and all that lot,come and have a look at the average "boiler" round my way,butt ugly or not,up to frigging you.

 

 

 

And for the yaba shite and the cracking "shag" you had,great,bully for you,I'm just stating the only experience of it (visibly,taken in front of my eyes) with me resulted in a unconscious body for twelve hours,a simple spliff can't be beat for me.

[ranma500]

I have a lot of questions about this documentary.

 

 

 

1. As far as I understand it, ya baa is methamphetamine, and methamphetamine is common in England as 'speed'. It is generally sold in a powder, but I have seen it in the form of a small pink pill, very similar to ya baa. I have searched the internet for definitions, and I can find no difference pharmaceutically between 'speed' and 'ya baa'. Maybe the only difference is that generally speed is taken orally, whereas 'ya baa' is usually smoked. It strikes me that this is rather like the difference between 'crack' and 'cocaine'. They are essentially the same drug, but one is taken nasally, and one is smoked.

 

 

 

The documentary's main shocking claim was that this is a new phenomenon in England. If I am right, and 'ya baa' is 'speed', this dramatic claim is clearly absolute rubbish - and this would tend to undermine the credibility of the whole programme.

 

 

 

2. I don't think the Dubliner bar would be very pleased that the programme portrayed its exterior as being a prime spot for purchasing 'ya baa'. I had never thought of Washington Square outside the theatre as a particularly drugs-ridden spot.

 

 

 

3. It seems clear to me that 'ya baa' is not a popular drug amongst the backpacker crowd, who are far more likely to want extasy or marijuana. The problem is not created by or for foreign visitors. Therefore it totally escaped me as to why the programme visited Ko Pangan. Well, actually it doesn't escape me - the reason is obvious. In order to make the programme relevant to the British viewing public, MacIntyre needed to show a danger to the British public - the logic being that otherwise who would care about it. Therefore this sequence was necessary to show that British youth are endangered also.

 

 

 

The only problem is that, as was clearly demonstrated, 'ya baa' is not readily available on Ko Pangan. The entire powers of the BBC with concealed cameras and undercover reporters could not reveal more than two pills!

 

 

 

4. The programme was absolutely clear in its portrayal of the Shan as the good guys, persecuted and battling against the evil drug-peddling Wa and Burmese army. I don't know enough about the situation to comment further on this, but I suspect this was over-simplistic. Can anyone enlighten me on the Shan situation? Are they indeed the self-styled anti-drugs vigilantes that they were portrayed to be?

 

 

 

5. I have a very liberal attitude towards drugs in general, but I have seen so much damage caused by 'ya baa' in Thailand, that I find it hard to retain my libertarian ideals in this regard. Ask any bargirl how many girls in the bar take 'ya baa'. I reckon always at least half. I have seen a number of girls literally starve themselves on 'ya baa', becoming shadows of their former selves, and have seen the appalling addiction, mental effects, and the reality of incarceration. There are many, many hearbreaking stories. There are also people who are trying to help. Father Joe Meier is an extraordinary example. There are now rehabilitation clinics, including some run by the army. There is, without a doubt, a story to be told about 'ya baa'. This documentary did not tell it.

 

 

 

6. Finally, I am intrigued as to how this documentary got made. The Thai government is very cautious about giving permission for any filming, and it requires an extraordinary amount of bureaucracy. Generally permission is not granted for any subject which shows Thailand in a poor or even critical light. It seems unlikely to me that the Thai film board would give permission for this documentary. However, the inclusion of the Princess, and army co-operation would tend to indicate to the contrary. Does anyone know how the truth?

 

 

 

ranma500

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

"have a look at the average "boiler" round my way,butt ugly or not,up to frigging you. "

 

 

 

i'm surprised you say that - from what I read from reliable posters on the uk punternet board Manchester has the best quality/value for money sanuk in the UK.

 

 

 

I've only been to Manc once in 1997 but what a great night clubbing i had - lots of nice (also plenty of not so nice) girls up for a shag -

 

 

 

it seemed to be the easiest place to pick up fit birds that i've ever been to in the UK

 

 

 

man, if it wasn't so far north i'd be up there every weekend - wicked place

 

 

 

 

 

"a simple spliff can't be beat"

 

 

 

-are you saying shagging on spliff is a good experience to try?

 

 

 

 

[sayjann]

ranma500

 

i agree with your post.

 

ya ba is speed and has been available in the uk for donkeys years.

 

 

 

i tend to think the programme was sensationalised for the general uk public who like this sort of programme.

 

 

 

if they wanted ya ba all they had to do was come with me to my regular bars in patong and within 30 minutes would have been offered so much they would have run out of film.

 

 

 

i do not partake,but know the girls who do (many are upfront about it) and it has been offered on many occasions.

 

 

 

i have in the past smoked pot (my only bad vice) but will not take a drug in thailand for two reasons.

 

 

 

if ya ba,how will i react?,i do not know,seeing some of the shootings on the show really puts me off.

 

will i get to that stage?,i do not know so therefore i will not try.

 

 

 

also i am worried if i bought a little weed off someone,how do i know they are not undercover cops?,looking for people like me?.

 

 

 

to me if i'm in the privacy of my room why should'nt i smoke a little if i want?.

 

but you hear stories of girls turning in the farangs for a little reward money.

 

 

 

i think on my next trip i might test the girls and before BF paid i will ask if they can get ya ba.

 

 

 

if they say yes then i will walk away.

 

 

[Guest]

"i'm surprised you say that - from what I read from reliable posters on the uk punternet board Manchester has the best quality/value for money sanuk in the UK. "

 

 

 

Would'nt know,don't care,could'nt pay any woman here nor any where except SE Asia for the deed.

 

 

 

It was a generall comment ie,our average girl's compared to the average Thai girl,literally no contest,simple example, princess anne of the horse stable versus that Thai princess featured thurs night.

 

 

 

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"I've only been to Manc once in 1997 but what a great night clubbing i had - lots of nice (also plenty of not so nice) girls up for a shag - "

 

 

 

Says it all don't it ?

 

Every place I'v been /travelled to has nice/not so nice girls up for it

 

 

 

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"-are you saying shagging on spliff is a good experience to try? "

 

 

 

I know you're having a larf now.

 

 

 

PS, if you're not taking the mick,try it,for some people its sound others no difference.

 

 

[Guest]

Well i have been around the whole drug scene for the last 19 yrs and have only ever been offered methamphetamine once in all those years and i've done the clubbing thing up and down the uk since 1989 till 2000 *getting old now*. Speed is not the same as ya-baa and i have had a few friends that were whizz heads and have ended up in mental institutions because of this. What i saw on that programme with the ya-baa heads going mental even scared me a bit as i wouldn't want to see the clubbing youth go through this. It was bad enough when cocaine was getting popular in the club scene as it nearly killed it as everybody was so on edge.

 

 

 

Just my personal take on things.....