Drug Rehabiliation In A Temple

Wat Thamkrabok is a small monastery located in the province of Saraburi in Thailand and is famous as one of the few temples in Thailand that offers drug detoxification program. This program was started in 1959, initially to treat opium addicts but over the years it has treated more than 100,000 opium and drug addicts including foreigners. Every morning patients will be given a strong herbal potion made from the recipe of the temple to drink. This strong herbal drinks will induce vomitting and to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. Aside from this, each participants will also take "Black herbal pills" each day. These pills purify the body and provide energy.
Herbal tea is drank all day long, and participants will spend a while each day in herbal saunas, further detoxifying the body. Patients also spend a while each day in herbal saunas to further detoxify their body. Beside the physical detoxification program, each patients are required to practice Buddhist meditation to build up their spiritual strength so that they will stay away from drugs in the future.

After the 10 days of detox, visitors may choose to stay an additional 18 days in the monastery. Those days will be spent in meditation, in work and in education. The course is designed to strengthen the resolve to keep the Satja.

The monks do not boast of success rates (although outside accounts suggest a fairly high rate of success) but they do say that any person that lives in accord and with integrity according to their satja, will never again use drugs or alcohol.

The special herbal tea is very strong and is made from an ancient recipe only known to the chief monks of the temple















The resident monks stands behind each participants and pat them on their backs to encourage them to vomit


















Herbals pills are being given to each participants daily to further detoxify their body























Part of the training which focuses on "cleaning" patients spiritually so that they will never touch drugs again even after they have left the program.