The first time I heard of the Opium Pipe Monastery in Thailand I naively thought it must be something like the opium dens of the movies, full of deranged acolytes seeking some sort of drug induced spirituality. Wrong. In fact, I could not have been any further off base. It turns out the Opium Pipe Monastery is more of a slang name given by the backpacking budget travelers of Bangkok’s often traveled Khao San Road to a Buddhist temple complex that is properly named Wat Thamkrabok . Wat Thamkrabok, located about 100 miles north of Bangkok, got this moniker because of the unique treatment approach offered here specializing in opioid addiction although they also accept those battling problems with other drugs and alcohol.
Read more below the fold…
While in Thailand about seven years ago I had the opportunity to visit Wat Thamkrabok and jumped at the chance. My preconception of a small monastery with a few quiet monks rapidly began to fade as I rode through the gates of this sprawling campus seemingly alive with temple construction projects. This mental picture I had made earlier was completely dispersed when I was boisterously greeted in English by an African-American in the saffron robes of a Buddhist monk. This “Black Monk of Thamkrabok”, aka Gordon Baltimore of Harlem, a disillusioned and drug addicted veteran of the Vietnam War who found himself broke down and stranded at the entrance of the monastery over thirty years ago and never left, has become the official greeter to those seeking treatment.
"Luang Paw Yaai, the holy woman of Thamkrabok, has developed the rather disgusting, but very effective potion you will have to take at least 5 days early in the morning or in the afternoon."
The Black Monk explained to me that the drug treatment program had begun in response to the high number of addicts within the Hmong tribesman that had requested sanctuary at Thamkrabok after fleeing Vietnam during the war. The treatment has been formalized into a 30 day program that includes a ten day detoxification program that could be described as no less than a thorough purification. As those in Europe, Australia, and even America became aware of the draconian treatment method and high success rate of the monks of Thamkrabok, more and more outsiders began to find the monastery seeking treatment. Those that have taken advantage of the treatment here include Asian politicians, American lawyers and stock brokers, senior Islamic religious figures, and famous rock stars.
I found a dated and in my opinion exaggerated account of the treatment explained in a UK Guardian Unlimited story about Pete Doherty, a famed British rocker and infamous heroin addict.
”He then got a place at the world's toughest clinic, the Thamkrabok monastery in Thailand, with the help of the actress June Brown, alias Dot Cotton in EastEnders, whose godson, Tim, has been hooked on crack. There he faced a pitiless regime, including beatings with a bamboo cane and being forced to drink a black concoction of vile herbs that made him vomit throughout the day to rid his body of impurities.
Gordon Baltimore, a former US Marine who runs the remote 784-acre centre, told one newspaper: 'For 30 days the patient is nothing but a robot. We push the button to decide when he eats and when he sleeps. Once someone starts his programme, the only way he can quit is when he's dead. The method of punishment is the bamboo stick.'
Hardened heroin, opium and crack addicts can be heard wailing in pain at the clinic. They are made to sing the Thai national anthem every day, and tapes of chanting by Buddhist monks are piped through to their cells every night. They endure a diet of rice and water. Once a patient has overcome his addiction, he must sign a vow never to take drugs again.
Doherty bolted before dawn on Day Three of his 10-day detox treatment and returned home…”
Notice in the story it suggests that Mr. Baltimore runs the place, I think the writer here is just a little confused because Gordon is about the only one of the monks who associates freely with guests and speaks fluent English. Also, while conditions are rather harsh, the comment about the bamboo stick torture and no escape but death is patently false and even belied in the same story by Doherty’s early departure from treatment. Rest assured though, treatment at Wat Thamkrabok is no cakewalk.
For some reason Doherty’s name seems to keep cropping up for me, after recently reading several unflattering mentions of his actions in posts at The Junky’s Wife found here and here.
I am getting a little long-winded here though, so I suggest if you would like to learn more about Wat Thamkrabok you should go to their website here. It has some great pictures, really spells out the detoxification process in detail, and even gives instructions and directions for obtaining treatment. The site could be better designed… so make sure you look for the links at the bottom when you are navigating through the site, there are three main sections.
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Very ineteresting, Did you get to talk to any of the patients during your vist? What kind of living arrangements did they have?
who was very open about the methods and practices of the monastery, but he was rather guarded about what he said about those in treatment. Walking through the complex you could see many, who I assumed were in treatment, working on different projects but I never tried to speak to them. They did have several different types of "dormitories" that seemed to range from institutional to decrepit, and many of the Hmong lived in a village setting.
I have been privileged enough to accompany addicts to Thamkrabok on three occassions. I took a cocaine addict in 2000, a methadone addict in 2002 and a heroin addict in 2005. I’m pleased to say that all are still clean but this is NOT indicative of the Thamkrabok success figures. In reality, the success rate is estimated by Phra (Monk) Hans to be about 30%. Nowhere near perfect but bloody good all the same. I’ve been collecting articles, essays and images of Thamkrabok for a couple of years. These stories, photographs and lots of information about getting treatment at the Thamkrabok Monastery can be found at: -
http://www.thamkrabok.net / http://www.thamkrabok.info
or the official Thamkrabok Monastery website at: www.thamkrabok.org
There is also an online Support Group for ex-Thamkrabok addicts called at:
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/Friends-of-Thamkrabok-Monastery
Or for reference you could try: -
Thailand Thamkrabok Monastery Phra Hans thamkrabok@hotmail.com +66 (0) 36 266 067 http://www.thamkrabok.org
Scotland Alba-Thai Organisation Stuart Brindley info@alba-thai.org +44 (0) 1382 200532 http://www.alba-thai.org
England East-West Detox Mike Sarson info@east-westdetox.org.uk +44 (0) 118 962 3332 http://www.east-westdetox.org.uk
England TARA Detox Organisation Vince Cullen info@tara-detox.org +44 (0) 1635 552 665 http://www.tara-detox.org
Australia Thamkrabok Inc Maria Bannister info@thamkrabok.org.au +61 4 0513 7863 http://www.thamkrabok.org.au
If you’ve got the money you can make your own way to Thamkrabok. As long as you truly want to let go of your addiction(s) you are welcome. The Thamkrabok Monastery gives its services FREE. There is no cost for treatment but you must pay for your food, drink, cigarettes, candy, toiletries etc. ‘Real money’ is not allowed in the treatment compound so you must exchange your cash for ‘Thamkrabok money’. Non-Thai addicts must deposit the equivalent of Thai Baht 200 per day at the Admissions Office before treatment. Each day of your stay you will be given back the equivalent of Thai Baht 200 in ‘Thamkrabok money’. These coupons can only be spent inside the treatment compound. This is quite enough ‘money’ to buy your food and drink etc each day of your stay.
The Monastery will not ask for a donation at any time but you may give whatever you wish at the end of your treatment. It is recommended that you stay for a minimum of 10 days. The longer you can stay the better (up to a maximum of 28 days).
The Thamkrabok Monastery treatment program involves…
Location & Isolation: On arrival at Thamkrabok, each addict is asked if he came voluntarily and if he truly wants to give up drugs. If the addict hesitates or answers ‘no’ to either question, he is sent away and told to return when he is serious. Once accepted as a patient, the addict must hand over all his belongings and exchange his clothes for a uniform of white tee-shirt and loose red trousers.
Medicine: Developed over a number of years (since 1959), the recipe is known only to the Abbot and Herbalist. The concoction is emetic, producing “projectile vomitingâ€. This specific part of the treatment has many components ritual, symbolic, physical effect in purging toxins from the body and the resulting physical weakness.... make no mistake… this is a very real ... very rapid detox. The medicine is not all, one must not forget the part of the ‘Black Pills’ and Herbal Steam Sauna.
Meditation: Not necessarily in the traditional Buddhist sense, but just allowing time and space for the addict to think with a clear head. In addition, there are 12 meditations that the Abbot gives to focus the addict on his situation and the way forward
Peer Support: The temple can treat several hundred addicts at a time, so there is a lot of support from addicts that have already been through the detox.
There is no doubt that after only 5 days treatment, vomiting and saunas, heroin addicts will be largely clean. (Not so for anyone coming off methadone but that’s another story). However, the physical detoxification is only 5% of the treatment. The Abbot of Thamkrabok Monastery (Luangpor Charoen) says “You must do the remaining 95% of the work in your mind and through your actions.â€
The biggest factor (95%) of a successful detox at Thamkrabok is “SAJJAâ€.
“Taking Sajja†( a holy VOW ~ sacred PROMISE ~ commitment to the TRUTH ) not to use intoxicating substances is the central theme of the Thamkrabok treatment program. Sajja is considered a sacred act that, if you believe in it, will connect you with your will power and with something "beyond". Sajja is there for everybody; it is not limited to any specific religion or belief system.
I believe that the vows (Sajja) taken at Thamkrabok may, or indeed, must change your life and your view of the world. If you keep the Sajja then good things will start to happen in your life and you will be better able to deal with the bad things. If you break your Sajja only bad things will come into your life. But remember, good or bad, all things/experiences are temporary, transient, and impermanent.
Thai addicts are particulary superstitious and consider it very bad luck to break your Sajja and much is made of the “accidents†that happen to addicts that don’t stay clean. But this is not purely superstition or Thai Buddhist spiritualism, just simple logic or common sense. Staying clean will allow you get on with your (new) life, things will only get better. If you break the vow and go back to a life of drugs you will be on the fast track to misery and suffering.
As one of the Monastery’s slogans says:
CLEAN BODY WITH HERBS… CLEAN MIND WITH SAJJA.
Regards,
Vince Cullen
I hope you will consider posting a blog here in the future.
Take care,
TDA
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