Originally Posted by tedkarma
I think people often misunderstand "yaba" use - while it is "drug abuse" it is a stimulant that people who work long long hours (or all night) use. It was a common problem in Taiwan too - presented as drug abuse - as I guess it was . . . but the real issue was people working two or three jobs - going several days without sleep.
Many people who work in the bar/prostitution/club environments probably partake - to stay energetic for their work. (notice the Thai friend says "among working folks")
Just to be clear, my Thai friend is not at all from a HiSo or even a middle class background. He's just an ordinary working guy himself, and he told me about things he observed in the areas where he lived and where he worked while in Samui. He felt that there was a significant change - not for the good - from when he had spent time in Samui a few years earlier.
As for yaba, I'm hardly a pollyanna when it comes to drugs and I understand that many use the drug to function and not purely for recreation or escape. But consistent methamphetamine use has been know to produce significant personality changes in many and violent behavior in some. And, again, from what my friend told me, there seems to have been an observable increase in its usage in Samui.