I’ve made mention of Yaba several times and it just dawned on me some may not know what it is.  The following two paragraphs are language I barrowed and modified slightly, from a couple of authoritative sites on the subject.

Also known as “Ice”, Yaba, Ya Ba, Yaa baa, Ya baa or Yah Bah means “crazy medicine” in Thai.  These are tablets containing a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine, typically brightly colored in orange or green and carrying logos such as “R” or “WY”.

Yaba tablets are typically consumed orally. The tablets are sometimes flavored like candy (grape, orange, or vanilla). Another common method is called chasing the dragon. Users place the yaba tablet on aluminum foil and heat it from below. As the tablet melts, vapors rise and are inhaled. The drug is also administered by crushing the tablets into powder, which is then snorted or mixed with a solvent and injected.

It is my understanding the boys also mix it, I assume in powder form, with the tobacco in a cigarette.  If smoking is permitted in your home, and a boy wants to smoke in the bathroom, he’s most likely doing yaba.  According to a friend of mine, who’s boyfriend is an under cover police officer, the bathroom is a favorite hiding place for the boys’ stash of yaba, at a farang’s home.  They like to place it on a ledge, up high near the ceiling, such as the top lip of tile work.

I know a boy that went to a sex party where yaba and E were being handed out.  For the next five days he thought everyone in public was talking (gossiping) about him.  During this time, he rarely went out into public, and would only do so with dark sun glasses on to disguise himself.  Best I can tell this was his first encounter with the drug and fortunately it scared the living hell out of him.

You definitely want to avoid boys that are using this drug, as there is no way to know how extensive their use is, or how long they’ve been taking it.  Long-term abuse definitely affects their temperament in the form of dramatic mood swings that are often violent. Believe me, I’ve gotten a taste of it a couple of times and it’s not pretty.  And it should go without saying their potential for theft increases, because they need money to buy more of the drug.

One of the things I tell boys is this stuff ages you very quickly. It’s a fact that seems to have more impact on them, particularly with the gay boys, than any other opposing argument for its use.  Unfortunately peer pressures, and the trust of a Thai friend’s word over farang, make it difficult to dissuade these boys from getting sucked in.

Photo Courtesy of Asia Boy

I don’t know what the ratios are, but its safe to say a fair number of the bar boys take yaba.  I was sitting at an outdoor bar in Soi Twilight one night.  At around 3am a group of rough looking man man type boys gathered near by.  After a little time had passed, several started getting into rather heated arguments.  The waiter said I should not worry; the boys were just taking yaba.

GOOD READS:

Center For Substance abuse Research
Wikipedia - Yaba (drug)
National Drug Intelligence Center - Yaba Fast Facts
Discussion in the Thaivisa.com Gay Forum