Baronbonk.com Beware of the date rape drugs.

Date rape drugs

I have said it before but it keeps coming up; and all too often it is Thailand regulars who get caught. Beware the so called date rape drugs. They are being used daily in Bangkok and, I believe, also in Pattaya.
Despite their name, the drugs are principally being used to facilitate robbery. They make you malleable and drowsy but still able to be moved (walked). So a person who has been drugged will generally just appear to be drunk.
Sometimes the drugs will cause you to give up information, such as pin numbers etc. At the very least, your hotel room, or apartment, will be cleaned out.
One description of the drugs reads: У The drugs often have no colour, smell or taste and are easily added to flavored drinks without the victim's knowledge. There are at least three date rape drugs ЕЕЕ The drugs can affect you quickly. The length of time that the effects last varies. It depends on how much of the drug is taken and if the drug is mixed with other substances, like alcohol. Alcohol can worsen the drug's effects and can cause more health problems. Ф
I know of two people who have been drugged in the area around the Nana Hotel: one in the bar, we think, and one outside. The area immediately outside Nana Plaza and the hotel car park is truly full of thieves, child pickpockets, dishonest katoeys and criminally minded mangdas.
Be careful out there. Don't drink from open vessels (glasses) in late outside bars, buy a bottle, make certain you see it opened and then keep it with you.
A man and his wife were drugged in an outside bar near Soi 7/1. They later woke up outside a hotel high up Sukhumvit, without their gold and money.
In Pattaya a while ago there was talk that katoeys put the drug on their nipples, thus disproving the old adage that one of the most useless things in the world is tits on a bull!
Apart from wariness additional protection is to make certain any place you stay insists upon taking the id of late night visitors. I know many do not like it but it is in your interest.
Similarly, wearing a lot of gold in public will attract the attention of the criminal element, as will flashing money, so be discreet out there.
Needless to say paying bar should protect you from these problems: saving that bar fine can be very expensive!
I can't stress enough that the people I know to whom this happened are worldly wise, have been to Thailand regularly or live here. They are not idiots. This can happen to anybody, so take care.