The vomit detox: Thai monastery goes to extremes treating drug addicts
The 28-day programme at Wat Thamkrabok is enough to make anyone sick, literally, writes Nathan Thompson
At the Wat Thamkrabok recovery centre, everyone vomits. The monks vomit, the nuns vomit and drug addicts - who seek out the temple from all over the world - vomit often.
Founded in 1957, Wat Thamkrabok is a sprawling Buddhist temple that offers the largest free treatment programme for drug addicts in Thailand, although many foreigners come as well. British rock star Pete Doherty attended in 2004 (although he left after two days).
Every day, drug users in red jumpsuits (with the word "winner" emblazoned on the back, in Thai) line up in the detox centre's courtyard to drink a shot of a grainy green brew made with 108 herbs, which induces the vomiting. The recipe is a secret and the medicine is not allowed to leave monastery grounds.
After guzzling large volumes of water, a patient heaves geysers of sick into drains while others clap, cheer and bang drums.
north from Bangkok should have been simple. The monastery website lists a bus route from Don Mueang airport, but, having been burned too often by the cryptic Thai bus system, wherein routes appear to change and end at random, I take a train to Hua Lamphong (Bangkok railway station) and ride it three hours back out to Saraburi, a town near the monastery.
