Steroids Thailand: the dark side of the country’s booming drug trade
The ready availability and low cost of steroids lures thousands of bodybuilders from all over the world to the Thai city. The drugs are sold over the counter in shops, pharmacies and even some gyms. The ease of obtaining the drugs and the laxity of regulations in Thailand, where a few years ago, the popular Australian bodybuilder Aziz Shavershian died of heart failure in his sauna, make the city a hub for illegal imports and distribution.
Unlike in Australia, where steroids are considered dangerous and possessing them without prescription is a crime, in Thailand it is legal to dispense them for off-label use. A pharmacist can sell sixty capsules of the mass muscle builder Andriol for a mere 840 baht. In the US, such a sale would result in a hefty fine and criminal prosecution.
Although the FDA states that testosterone is a powerful hormone with potentially lifesaving and reversible effects, including increased bone density and muscle mass, it can also cause a variety of side effects, such as infertility in men, breast growth in women and hair loss. Moreover, prolonged and heavy anabolic steroid use can cause kidney damage, necessitating the use of dialysis machines.
Chris, not his real name, has been dividing his time between his home in Australia and Pattaya for nearly a decade. He claims that the majority of people who come to Pattaya for steroid holidays have never been informed of the serious and often irreversible consequences of the drugs they are taking. Steroids Thailand