How to Avoid Alcohol Problems While Living in Thailand

I’ve seen a lot of guys come unstuck due to alcohol. I don’t want to exaggerate things, but it can actually ruin somebody’s life completely. Somebody who goes out there to retire can have a very nice life with plenty of money, but I’ve seen guys do stupid things when they’ve been absolutely smashed with alcohol.

Myself personally, I am a heavy drinker when I go out to Thailand. It’s just as I say it’s part of the culture. I don’t really go out there to sit on beaches. I’m not as bad as when I was younger I’ve just turned 60, actually so when I go out, it is a bit of a slower pace.

But I can remember right up until sort of 10 years ago well, even now I mean, if I go out, I’m drinking all night. I’ll meet a friend in somewhere like Stumble Inn on Soi 4. I’ll start off with honey (or something non alcoholic) because I can’t drink beer all night it bloats me out. But if I drink spirits from the get go, then I’ll get drunk very, very quickly.

My Golden Rule: No Daytime Drinking

I always had this golden rule for myself and it might be worthwhile you taking this on board. It might help you out if you go to Thailand for any extended amount of time.

My golden rule was that I never drank in the daytime. The simple reason was as I said I was scared of becoming an alcoholic. I drank quite heavily in the evening. I’d go out and wouldn’t start until about 9 or 10 o’clock.

In those days especially very far back in time the bars used to stay open literally all night, till 5 or 6 in the morning. I stumbled out of Thermae at 5:30 in the morning so drunk lucky I got home.

Nowadays (I’m talking pre coronavirus), the bars are closing at 2 a.m. So people tend to do things a little bit earlier. They’ll start off at 7:30, whereas it used to be 10:30 in the old days.

So as I say, my own golden rule is: I will never, ever drink in the daytime. You can never say never, can you? On those few occasions I have had a drink in the daytime, then my other golden rule is: once it gets to dinner time 6 or 7 o’clock I’ll go and have a nice meal, and that’s it. Then I won’t drink anymore.

How Can You Fall into Becoming an Alcoholic?

It’s quite simple, really. If you’re going out there for a week or 10 days, it isn’t an issue because it’s a holiday. You have a blowout, you get back on the plane, you put your sensible head back on, and you stop drinking when you come home (or you drink at the weekends, whatever).

But a lot of the socializing in Thailand is in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol. You’re out in these places not only in the evening, but all day as well.

A Story: 10 a.m. Whiskey on the Table

I’ve been to friends’ and acquaintances’ houses. I’ll give you an example.

I’ve gone to an expat’s house there were about half a dozen guys, American, English. This was 10 o’clock in the morning. I was invited. I went with another friend. I didn’t know anybody else in there.

I arrived at 10 o’clock in the morning. There was a bucket of ice, a bottle of Thai whiskey, and some mixers on the table. These guys were going at it at 10 a.m. in the morning.

It would have been so easy when somebody put a glass in front of me and started pouring the whiskey (which they did) for me to just say “thanks” and drink it. But I didn’t.

They tried to push me to drink, but they understood they were okay about it. I just shook hands “Nice to meet you all” and I told them straight: “Look, I just don’t drink in the day.” They accepted it.

You’ve got to do that.

The Temptation of Daytime Drinking

When you go out into bars in the daytime, you’ll see guys on vacation they’re all drinking. They’ll have a bottle of beer in their hand. Like I say, you don’t want to be the odd man out.

What tends to happen is you’ll go out earlier in the morning maybe half past 10, 11 o’clock. You’ll sit in somewhere like Big Dogs at the end of Soi 4 a very popular bar in the daytime. Everybody’s there with a bottle of beer, so you think, “Well, I’ll have a bottle of beer.” Before you know it, it becomes a habit. You start to do it every day.

Alcohol Is Readily Available Everywhere

Alcohol is readily available everywhere in Thailand and I do mean absolutely everywhere. Even on public holidays.

I’ve been in Hua Hin on a Buddhist day. All the 7 Elevens aren’t serving alcohol. The supermarkets aren’t serving alcohol. All the Thais are saying you can’t get alcohol. Yet I know of a shop in Hua Hin that I can go to and buy alcohol 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and it doesn’t matter what the holiday is.

I won’t mention where it is here in case it jeopardizes it. But I’m guessing he just gives the couple of local police who are patrolling that area on that evening 500 baht each, and a blind eye is turned.

A Warning for Long Term Visitors

Be careful, guys. When you go out to Thailand for an extended amount of time if you’re one of those guys who’s gone out to retire, or you just plan to go out there for the winter (three months, four months) you’ve got to be very, very aware of this alcohol problem.

It’s much easier to slip into alcoholism in Thailand than it is in your country Australia, America, UK, wherever because we’ve got this culture of not drinking in the daytime.

In the UK I don’t know what it’s like now, I haven’t been out to a pub in the UK for years (I save my money for Thailand) it used to be that Sunday lunchtime was a kind of drinking session. Everybody was in there, and then they went home for Sunday lunch. In the week, people were working they didn’t generally drink in the daytime. They might pop in for a few pints after work, but that was it.

In Thailand, it’s a totally different culture. It’s a drinking culture the expat community, I’m talking about.

Set Your Own Rules and Goals

You’ve just got to have this in the back of your mind. You can’t ignore it. You’ve got to set your own goals and your own rules. You’ve got to tell yourself what you’re going to do.

Now, if you decide, “Okay, I’m going to drink from 9 p.m. onwards until the end of the night” that’s fine. I used to do it. I’d go out and get absolutely hammered every night. But as I say, I wouldn’t touch it in the morning. And if I was in company where everybody else was drinking, then I’d politely refuse. I’d have a coffee or a soft drink.

A Note for Diabetics

The other thing of course if you’re diabetic, you don’t want to be drinking sugary sodas all day. That’s the worst thing you can do.

I was diabetic too self inflicted. I just ate too much and put on weight. I’ve lost the weight now could do with losing a few more pounds, but can’t we all?

If you’re diabetic, you don’t want to be drinking Coke and sugary lemonades and all those sort of things. Soda water seems to be I used to drink soda water when I was diabetic that seemed to be the best solution for me.

The 7 Eleven Problem

The other thing is, of course, guys tend to buy bottles from 7 Eleven and take them home. There’s a 7 Eleven on just about every street that you’ll visit.

On Soi 4, I’ve lost count. They just keep popping up. They seem to be every other business now.

I stay at the end of Soi 4 at the Nana Thai Mansion Suites I made a video about it it’s a nice hotel. I’ve tried to count the 7 Elevens when I’ve come out of Nana at 2 o’clock in the morning. I’ll grab one of those nice burgers when you come out of Nana and walk down to the other end of Soi 4 (where the tobacco factory is).

I’ve tried to count the 7 Elevens, but there are so many of them that I’ve just lost count now. There are at least six to eight something like that just on Soi 4.

So you can imagine it’s very tempting. You’re walking back, and the alcohol is all there. It’s cheap. It’s plentiful. It’s very, very easy.