DOSE:

buccal

Kratom

(fresh)

BODY WEIGHT:

240 lb

I have a Thai friend who lives in Southern Thailand and who is quite a businessman. I had read about Kratom and asked him about it. Its not something that he was into - its not an upper-class thing to do in Thailand. He told me that most if not all of his workers used it and he would get me some to try.

Sure enough at one of his factories adjacent to his home there is a picnic table where the employees chill a bit sometimes and in the middle of the table was a massive pile of fresh kratom leaves. He had one of the workers toss some in a bag for me and handed it over.

The first two tries with Kratom weren't terribly dramatic. I felt a light high. I had read that Westerners considered kratom to be in the same class as perhaps tobacco and caffeine. I enjoyed trying it but wasn't blown away by it.

Several years later I was back in Southern Thailand and ended up staying in a resort near a famous Southern fishing town.

The resort had a monopoly on cars to take you to the market. I went out in search of kratom and ask the driver for assistance. We had no luck. He told me, however, that it grew in his yard and that he would bring me some the next day.

Sure enough as I was packing for checkout I heard a knock at the door and there he was - with a FAT pile of kratom leaves wrapped in newspaper. He didn't even want a tip! Thai people are so nice.

My buddy and I were taking a bus trip across the south to see the Thai business friend I mentioned earier. We sat in the back with a bunch of teenagers who were exhilarated with the scandal of the two white guys eating kratom on the bus. Kratom, you see, is illegal in Thailand - yet it seems to be openly available in the mornings at market - usually sold by old women. 20 giant leaves for 6 baht (about USD$0.07). We shared the kratom with the kids on the back of the bus and they giggled nervously when police or other tough looking figures got on the bus.

This time around I REALLY got to experience the kratom in its true glory. I don't think I had enough to eat the previous times. IN addition to curing car sickness and making a very hot and pleasant bus journey fun, the kratom got me higher than hell - a strange combination of dreamy sedation and sharp wits. I would nod off for a moment periodically always to snap back into shape a moment later.

For the rest of the trip we bought kratom whenever we could and made use of it. As we traveled farther away from the South of Thailand we had to be more inconspicuous about it as we have family friends in law enforcement in Thailand who take Kratom very seriously. I find it amazing that it is sold absolutely in the open in some parts of the country and that they would arrest you on the spot if they saw that you had some in or around Bangkok.

Kratom is fun stuff. Unfortunately the dried leaf that we can buy from the vendors in North America doesn't do the real thing any justice.

Exp Year: 2002	ExpID: 20688
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Mar 18, 2004	Views: 12,329
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Kratom (203) : Various (28), General (1)