Steroids are a powerful endocrine hormone that instructs the body to increase muscle size and strength and help recover from workouts. While they can help enhance your physique, they are also dangerous and illegal in many countries, including Australia. In fact, possession of steroids can result in up to one year in jail and a fine.
But in Thailand, steroid drugs are readily available and cheap. During a two-week investigation for this article, Fairfax Media’s Chris Davidson visited pharmacies in Bangkok and Pattaya where it was possible to buy some steroid brands for 10 times less than they sell for on the Australian black market.
These pharmacies advertise the sale of steroids, but do not require a prescription to purchase them. Rather, the clinics where they are dispensed offer a doctor’s note for a fee. This is similar to the medical certificates people can buy in Thailand for 100 baht that are required by law to get their driver’s licence.
Despite being legal in Thailand, steroids can have a number of negative effects on health. These include increased blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart and liver disease, and sexual dysfunction. They can also cause permanent damage to organs such as the kidneys, liver, lungs and intestines.
Steroids can also lead to a number of psychological problems. These include mood changes and addiction. They can also interfere with the balance of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine controls learning, movement, appetite and emotions. It is crucial to sustainable concentration and memory operations, while serotonin regulates moods and sleep patterns. Both of these are disrupted by the use of anabolic steroids. Steroids Thailand