24 August 2008 - Alcoholism Cure?

Sunday, August 24, 2008
Alcoholism Cure?

A very good friend of mine once commented that many of my blogs and emails mentioned drinking in them. He was correct.

Unfortunately, many people in Isaan consume a great deal of alcohol - mainly beer and a potent local whiskey called "Lao Kao". Lao Kao is a type of Thai moonshine.
LaoKao is very popular with the farmers of Isaan. It is $2.63 USD for a one liter bottle and is sold everywhere. It is drunk neat - no ice, no mixer, no water. It is, in my opinion, a small step above rubbing alcohol. The smell out of the bottle and on an imbiber's breadth is very distinctive. I have drunk it whenever I have had to out of social courtesy - never more than a couple shots. I would hate to get drunk on the stuff!

As is typical for most people in the lower socio-economic levels of a society, hard drinking is a issue.

At all the festivals that I have attended, there have been many many drunks. Because of many of the festivals in the vicinity of Nongwha, I have seen the same people drunk time after time. On visits to outside villages I have seen people drinking and under the influence of Lao Kao for no apparent celebratory reason.
Six weeks ago, Duang informed me that we had to go to see Buddha (a term she uses for any monk) so that her brother would not drink anymore. She was convinced after consultation with her mother and others who had some dreams that he was going to die if he did not stop drinking.

Duang's son was to drive, and we were to accompany her brother to visit a particular monk. I asked how long it would take to get to see the monk. Duang replied that it would take about 5 hours to see the monk. At that point I could not understand why it was necessary to travel 5 hours each way to visit a monk about alcoholism. In Thailand, I do not believe you are ever more than 3 miles from a monk. I had difficulty understanding why we could not utilize a more local monk. She assured me with unbridled conviction that this monk had to be the one we went to see. This far away monk is famous for taking care of people who wanted to stop drinking. This monk had helped her uncle, her cousin, and the village drunk whom I was all too familiar with. For some reason he had decided to be my best friend whenever I was in the village. Sloppy drunk Thais are as objectionable as American drunks. I reflected on this and realized that all three had not been drunk in a long time whereas in the past it was at least a weekly occurrence. Although I remained skeptical, I acquiesced and agreed to tag along.

By this time her brother was having second thoughts about "taking the cure". After much family discussion, Duang's Momma terminated the debate by laying down the law to her son. He reluctantly agreed to continue with the plan.

We drove along many country back roads and the trip was actually very interesting. Everywhere we drove, people were in the process of planting rice. In addition to the rice cultivation, we saw people tending their cattle and water buffaloes.
After 2 hours we arrived at a Wat outside of Khon Kaen. It was at this moment that I realized that it would not take 5 hours to get to the monk. What Duang meant was that the entire trip would take 5 hours. I was relieved but still skeptical regarding our quest for the cure.

As we approached the main building I noticed a sign on the side of an auxilliary building that appeared to be a government sign regarding alcoholism. Viewing the sign and confirming my understanding of it with Duang reassured me somewhat that this might be a worthwhile journey.

We entered the main building of the Wat. Inside other people were making merit and obtaining blessings. It was the same as any other Wat that we have visited throughout Thailand.

Duang told the Monk why we were there. The Monk indicated that we should wait until after the others were finished. We waited our turn, made our merit, and received the Monk's blessing. He then turned his attention to Duang's brother.

He said some prayers over him and then took him towards the back of the stage area where the Monk sits. Duang's brother showed an ID card and signed a large book. The Monk then had him drink several cups of liquid out of an ornate bowl of water. This appeared to me to be the Holy Water that is used in merit making and blessing rituals. The Monk said some more prayers, touched the head, and sent Duang's brother on his way.

We rested about 10 minutes under the shade of large tree. Duang's brother belched loudly a couple of times and remarked that he felt very full from drinking all the water.

After we had driven for about 20 minutes from the Wat back towards Nongwha, Duang's brother started to get sick. There was a mad scramble to get the truck pulled over to the side, and get him out of the back of the extended cab. We were a little bit too late - but not a major catastrophe. It was only a preview of what was to come. As Duang and her son frantically cleaned the inside of the truck, I got out of the truck and stayed at the front to ensure that her brother in the grass alongside the road at the back of the truck was OK. He was not OK but as long as he was breathing and conscious I was not going back there. He was experiencing projectile vomiting. I had never ever seen anything like that before. It was worse than the scenes out of the movie "The Exorcist". He was sick for at least 15 minutes. When he had recovered sufficiently to resume travel he was banished to the pickup bed. After about another 15 minutes we had to pull over again for the same purpose.

Fortunately we had taken back roads so sugar cane fields offered privacy for he was now also sick out of the other end. By the time we got back to the village he had been sick 4 times. Due to his illness, he had fallen asleep in the back of the truck. He spent most of the next day asleep as well.

That was 6 weeks ago and I have seen him at least 12 times since then. He has not had whiskey or beer since that Sunday.

Duang's cousin and uncle remain alcohol free. More astounding to me is that the village drunk remains clean and sober to this day. I know that he is an alcoholic.
I am somewhat familiar due to one of my fellow workers with alcholism treatment in the USA. His treatment 20 or 25 years ago involved a thirty day stay with alcohol aversion therapy. He would be given a shot of medicine and then all the alcohol and type of alcohol that he enjoyed. He would then become violently ill. Over time his mind associated the smell of alcohol to the violent sickness.

Here in Thailand there was no shot or pills. There was no alcohol served. There was no psychiatric counseling. All I observed was drinking of some type of water - once and some prayers by the Monk.

People are more spiritual here in Thailand then in the USA. In future blogs I will share examples of their beliefs and practices. Perhaps the spiritual belief in the power of the Monk, the peer pressure of relatives as well as friends who had succeeded with this cure, or the visceral belief that the dreams of an imminent death due to drinking were not to be ignored all contributed to another apparent cure.

I don't know. I don't necessarily believe. But I am becoming more and more curious the longer that I live my life here.