Steroids are a highly regulated drug in Australia and it’s illegal to import them without a prescription. But for some people, they are seen as the key to a lean, muscular physique. Australia’s strict drug laws mean that many of the performance and image-enhancing drugs used by amateur bodybuilders have to be obtained illegally. The burgeoning pharmaceutical industry in Thailand is a major player in this global steroid trade, and it’s not just Australians who are going to Pattaya to buy steroids and growth hormones.
Despite the stringent Australian law, there’s a thriving subculture of amateur bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids and growth hormones in their quest for that ultimate ripped physique. These athletes, who call themselves’steroid tourists’, go to places like Pattaya in Thailand where they can buy the drugs cheaply. The seedy Thai beach town is a magnet for hundreds of Aussies.
Some pharmacies in Pattaya boldly advertise steroids in their shop-front windows. One opposite a pub on Beach Road Soi 7 sells Andriol, which is testosterone in tablet form, and Testoviron, a testosterone injectable. It’s also possible to get growth hormones in the form of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) and letrodostrine, which are not as common among the seizures made by police and customs in Europe.
But the side effects of these drugs are severe, and they can cause permanent damage to the heart, liver, kidneys and brain. For men, they can lead to hair growth and a decrease in sperm count, which can lead to sterility. For women, they can lead to enlargement of the clitoris and a deepening of the voice _ all of which are not reversible. Steroids Thailand